Endurance Racing VF500 build.

Ok. I am going to build a VF500 endurance race bike for an upcoming classic endurance race. I have bought a US import VF500 interceptor in non running condition and I have a plan to have it stripped and rebuilt by sometime in early 2017. The VF500 is a daft choice for this but I like daft choices so I'm going with it! The rules of the race mean that it will be a F2 racer running alongside early VFR750's, early GSXR750's as well as any pre 1986 2 strokes. We will be down on power but we will also be lighter so there is hope that we can make a reasonable showing on the day.

These bikes do have a little bit of race heritage. Back in 1985 in the UK we had the VF500 cup single bike series which ran as a support class to the bigger races and actually got some TV time which can be found on google. My bike will be based on the US style AMA superbike styling, no full fairing, but I will have clip-on style bars rather than the high bars favoured on the VF750.

So, the plan is:

Strip to bare parts

Powder coat the frame etc

Bin all the road kit

race loom, keyless

CBR600 41mm forks

alloy yokes top and bottom

cbr600 rear wheel

520 chain

under-slung caliper

bespoke exhaust 4 into 2 

new linear linkage

new adjustable shock

NC30 calipers and discs

complete engine overhaul

skim heads

polish ports

full carb overhaul

close ratio gearbox

lightened flywheel

bespoke rearsets

lose as much weight as possible

plus lots more as it unfolds.

I am aiming at a genuine 70rwhp and less than 180kg wet.

If anyone is interested I will try to post some pics and up-dates, if not I will just post up when the thing is done.

So far I have stripped everything, the frame has gone of to the painters, the motor is split and I have all the new bearings, cam chains, tensioners, gaskets etc ready for the re-assembly. I have to re-furb the top casing as it's a bit rough and then we are ready to start.

There are ceramic bearings. If you area really serious into blowing money into this, then I would look into them. There's also a company called Microblue that puts some coatings on their steel and ceramic bearings, but not sure if there's been any real testing. I think most race teams use ceramic where possible.

I'd be interested to know what you do with the pistons if anything. Impossible to get, and the closest piston that would fit is from a Ninja 250, but would need a bore on already thin walls.

Biggest concern is the frame. There's not a whole lot of...frame.. to it. Bigger forks might not work all that great.

But keep posting away  :beer:

:lurk:

Hi. there are a few suppliers of exotic stuff but the plan with this build is to keep roughly period and within the spirit of the regulations. The chassis is what it is in terms of rigidity, it's never going to be anything else. The 41mm fork conversion is pretty standard, it's not going to twist the rest of it out of shape but they do offer rebound damping which is absent from the standard set up. Pistons look Ok as do the rings so I don't plan on anything other than honing the bores and cleaning up. 

Good luck with it. Keep posting. I saw that bike for sale on Ebay a couple of months ago. Looked in decent shape.

Congrats!!

"The Dutchy" here on VFRD has a VF500 set up for racing and could chip in shortly :-)

Me? This Dutchy has a VF500F2 and no interest in racing it, but will gladly follow your progress! :beer:

A few pics of the progress so far. The sump was full of petrol from a faulty fuel tap vac hose, carbs had previously been split and remounted to the base plate incorrectly, bending it out of shape and making the mechanism very stiff. The motor had been painted in situ so everything was covered in engine paint. It all came away surprisingly well though, few sheared bolts and rounded heads.

Most of what is in this picture is now in the skip. Wheels, forks, yokes, exhausts, stands etc etc.      

Motor ready for stripping. Ace paintwork on the cam covers

Cases split. I couldn't find anyone willing to strip and repaint the casings so had to do it myself.Covered in paint stripper. It took an age, probably 5 applications followed by wire wool and wire brushing.Masked up ready for paint

Finished and cleaned up.

So now I have everything for the bottom end rebuild. I've bought all new bearings from CMSNL as well as new slippers, guides and cam chains. The gearbox is ready to go in but having looked at the casing I am slightly worried that it will be too large because of the different ratios. Time will tell!

51 minutes ago, sportstu

So now I have everything for the bottom end rebuild.

Conrods and pistons balanced?

Why would you put the exhaust and forks in the skip? Are they  farked? :unsure:

and while you have the engine split, put in a new seal for the clutch rod.

So you donot have to get creative at a later stage.....    :-)

[image: IMAG3550-768x1358_zpslniydpur.jpg]

[image: IMAG3552-1024x1811_zps6suaplrm.jpg]

Blimey. I hope your valve gear is in good nick. I'd hate to see all that work rewarded with a dropped valve.

1 hour ago, Dutchy

and while you have the engine split, put in a new seal for the clutch rod.

So you donot have to get creative at a later stage.....    :-)

[image: IMAG3550-768x1358_zpslniydpur.jpg]

[image: IMAG3552-1024x1811_zps6suaplrm.jpg]

Yep, and the output shaft seal.

1 hour ago, Dutchy

Why would you put the exhaust and forks in the skip? Are they  farked? :unsure:

The forks were knackered and the collector and headers were gone. Silencers are OK but there's no market for them as far as I know.

20 minutes ago, jeremyr62

Blimey. I hope your valve gear is in good nick. I'd hate to see all that work rewarded with a dropped valve.

So do I!! The heads are being rebuilt once the bottom end is assembled.

Which paint stripper did you use and I'll try to avoid it? Hard to get decent stuff now since the EU banned dichloromethane.

Basic stuff from screwfix, on the plus side it didn't damage the alloy.

Subscribed.

Very nice thread, keep plowing ahead.

I concur, good to see the progress....

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

Well, there's a bit of a hold up with the engine rebuild while I get a but of machining done to try to fit the NC30 close ratio box. There are a few issues that stop it being a straight swap over but hopefully with a bit of imagination and time in the machine shop it can be done.

The main issue is that the output shaft on the nc30 box is slightly longer, presumably because the chain line for a wider tyre dictated the final dimensions. The cluster sits within the same space and the selectors line up but the output bearing is further down the shaft meaning that the locating groove does not line up with the crank case. The second issue is that the second gear output sprocket on the nc30 is straight cut (nearly) but on the VF500 it is tapered to clear the casting. The NC30 2nd gear is a 39 tooth whereas the VF one is 40 but it still fouls the casing very slightly so I have to have it ground to suit.

Sorry about the blurry pics.VF500 output shaft measured from 2nd gear to the locating groove.Same measurement applied to the NC30 boxVF500 also uses a wider groove in the bearing                you can just see that the NC30 bearing sits a little further from the gear. There is no thrust washer and the bearing can't be moved so the only option is to re-groove the bearing or the crank case.NC30 2nd gear straight cut, VF500 2nd gear tapered to clear an internal casting. Meshed up in the top casing with the shift forks fitted so I'm confident I can make it work.                                                        Anyway, the components are now off at the speedy machine shop and I don't expect them back for a week or so and there's nothing else that I can do to the motor until I get the gearbox done.

Hopefully the frame will be ready to collect from the powder coaters tomorrow and I can start the chassis assembly while I'm waiting.

What year VF is that the 84/85 bikes have a habit of dropping valves if used at high rpm a lot, so endurance racing fits that !

I had an 86 F2 for ages, ragged the guts out of it & did the high pressure oil feed to the head mod.  At 60K miles I had it dyno tested & it was putting out 59whp, this was with K&N & a Predator stainless system which is not the freeest flowing exhaust in the world.

Just remember they are already an overbored & tuned VF400 motor, so if you manage to get better than 65hp out of it you will be doing well.

I'd concentrate on the intake & exhaust, shorten the intakes stacks to the minimum you can manage, then replace the airbox with a full surround maximum volume, ramair fed one, like an RC30 HRC one, you'll have to make it, or maybe modify an NC30/35 one.  I can't remember the carb size, so compare to NC30/35 or add cheap chinese flat slides even !

A custom exhaust is the only answer, make it flow as good as possible, you will need an internal diameter around 30-32mm for maximum exhaust flow.

On the brakes, get a set of CBR600RR/F4/929/954/SP1/2 Nissin four pots & a CBR master cylinder for the most awesomw period correct (ish) brakes :)

Have at it & it will be good to see how it goes.  Where in Devon are you ?

Good brake suggestion Mohawk. If you go that path, the 41mm forks from a VTR1000F will work well with those calipers with minor grinding for clearance. I prefer the 954/SP2 brake combination for the best master cylinder and caliper piston size mix.

Interesting, Looks like you know what you're doing. 

Yes, the dreaded VF500 dropped valve scenario. 

Best to scrutinize that area closely before assembly. 

Maybe there are other model Honda valves you could use with thicker stems? Mod the valve guides to suit? A millimetre extra might just buy you all the insurance you need? 

Changing the valve stem thickness would change all manner of characteristics of the dynamic behaviour of the valve train. The weight of the valve would change so you would need to adjust the springs etc etc.

I admire the OPs ambition but as a VF500 owner I question his sanity :-)

Cheers for the advice all. The forks are 41mm cbr ones but I am using NC30 lowers that will allow me to bolt NC30 4 pot calipers on. They are period and work great. I did this mod on an old steelie that I raced for a while and it works well. The bike is an 85 interceptor. Carbs are the 32mm, the later US and the UK ones were 30mm. The inlet stacks are pretty much flush with the base plate on these bikes, the airbox is a weird round thing with a the intake facing back so I intend to find a way to get a bit more volume but that's a job for later. I won't get a NC30 one under the tank and I can't cut the tank because we need as much fuel capacity as possible. Exhaust is going to be a 4-2 custom one along the lines of the VF750 AMA racers, offset cans to keep the pipe length the same from front and rear pots.

Reliability is going to be the Achilles heel. These do have a reputation for top end woes but all I can do is make it a good as it can be and keep my fingers crossed. I am keeping the motor standard with a view to reliability so any tuning will be purely through breathing mods and fitting a much lighter flywheel to help it spin.

Frame is ready for collection tomorrow so I will start the chassis build next week.

6 minutes ago, jeremyr62

Changing the valve stem thickness would change all manner of characteristics of the dynamic behaviour of the valve train. The weight of the valve would change so you would need to adjust the springs etc etc.

I admire the OPs ambition but as a VF500 owner I question his sanity :-)

Haha, yes, so do I, there are easier bikes to prep.

13 hours ago, Mohawk

What year VF is that the 83/85 bike have a habit of dropping valves if used at high rpm a lot, so endurance racing fits that !

I had an 86 F2 for ages, rathed the guts out of it & did the high pressure oil feed to the head mod.  At 60K miles I had it dyno tested & it was putting out 59whp, this was with K&N & a Predator stainless system which is not the freeest flowing exhaust in the world.

Just remember they are already an overbored & tuned VF400 motor, so if you manage to get better than 65hp out of it you will be doing well.

I'd concentrate on the intake & exhaust, shorten the intakes stacks to the minimum you can manage, then replace the airbox with a full surround maximum volume, ramair fed one, like an RC30 HRC one, you'll have to make it, or maybe modify an NC30/35 one.  I can't remember the card size, so compare to NC30/35 or add cheap chinese flat slides even !

A custom exhaust is the only answer, make it flow as good as possible, you will need an internal diameter around 30-32mm for maximum exhaust flow.

On the brakes, get a set of CBR600RR/F4/929/954/SP1/2 Nissin four pots & a CBR master cylinder for the most awesomw period correct (ish) brakes :)

Have at it & it will be good to see how it goes.  Where in Devon are you ?

Exeter. Pop in and have a look if you're in the area

Looks like you have it covered, re the airbox, I didn't mean an NC30 unit, but rather an aftermarket HRC type. If you build your own, to get volume & avoid carb pressure issues, just build it around the V of the heads & encompass the carbs INSIDE the airbox, so the airbox seals to carb head intake isolators. Here's a pic of a Durban RC30 showing what I mean.

[image: last_fcr_in_airbox_ruckansicht_detail.JP]

http://s11.photobucket.com/user/jamboyNC30/media/NC30/001-3.jpg

This gives you the MAXIMUM static volume for the carbs to breathe from !  The Ramair keeps it at ambient pressure regardless of speed. The NC30 uses a central intake scoop under the headstock IIRC there should be room for than on the VF.

The only thing I forgot to mention, was that as track only bike, why not dump the alternator & use a total loss system ?  Same with the starter motor, or if you keep the starter motor, rig up some external contacts like a forklift recharger plug, so you can use an external battery to start it.

The old HP oil feed, worked by tapping into the right side crankcase end of the HP oil gallery, then run external oil lines from there to replace the existing external oil feeds. When you blank the old external oil feed supply port, that also increases the oil feed to the gearbox. I can't find a pic, but there are instructions here  http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/pdf/V4_Oil_Line_Instructions.pdf

Good luck with the Project. If I'm down that way I'll try & look you up.

58 minutes ago, Mohawk

Looks like you have it covered, re the airbox, I didn't mean an NC30 unit, but rather an aftermarket HRC type. If you build your own, to get volume & avoid carb pressure issues, just build it around the V of the heads & encompass the carbs INSIDE the airbox, so the airbox seals to carb head intake isolators. Here's a pic of a Durban RC30 showing what I mean.

[image: last_fcr_in_airbox_ruckansicht_detail.JP]

http://s11.photobucket.com/user/jamboyNC30/media/NC30/001-3.jpg

This gives you the MAXIMUM static volume for the carbs to breathe from !  The Ramair keeps it at ambient pressure regardless of speed. The NC30 uses a central intake scoop under the headstock IIRC there should be room for than on the VF.

The only thing I forgot to mention, was that as track only bike, why not dump the alternator & use a total loss system ?  Same with the starter motor, or if you keep the starter motor, rig up some external contacts like a forklift recharger plug, so you can use an external battery to start it.

The old HP oil feed, worked by tapping into the right side crankcase end of the HP oil gallery, then run external oil lines from there to replace the existing external oil feeds. When you blank the old external oil feed supply port, that also increases the oil feed to the gearbox. I can't find a pic, but there are instructions here  http://www.daughertymotorsports.com/pdf/V4_Oil_Line_Instructions.pdf

Good luck with the Project. If I'm down that way I'll try & look you up.

Cheers for the advice. I can't dump the alternator or starter, it's a dead engine start and I won't get an endurance event out of a battery so I'd have to change batteries during the event. The gain is marginal so I'm happy with the charging system in place. The oil modification looks good. I've not seen that one before but I have seen the dave dodge ones with the oil filter adapter plate system which seem to work well.

Cheers

Fwiw, I did ask if the VF500's benefit from an oil mod since I too heard the horror stories.

A fellow (The) Dutchy told me no...    

Following with interest!

Before I bought my VF500 I looked it the oil mod thing really carefully. No evidence either way on the oil mod for the VF500 IMO. No real evidence for any of the VF bikes in my opinion. Loads of anecdotal stuff but nothing remotely like real evidence. Maybe the really crappy VF750S and VF750FD models right at the start in 83 and 84 would have benefited from better top end lubrication but who knows. Its been done to death millions of time already and I have never seen any compelling evidence it improved anything.

Which paint stripper did you use and I'll try to avoid it? Hard to get decent stuff now since the EU banned dichloromethane.

FYI, that's what I thought, too, but it's still all over eBay.  The EU allowed it to be sold to "professionals" for use in licenced premises, but there's no enforcement of that law on eBay, so sellers just assume (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) that their buyers are allowed to buy it.  I bought some recently: 252471247040.  Legitimate companies like Screwfix and B&Q cannot risk getting caught, so they don't sell it.

Ciao,

I got the frame back today, Oh how I wish I'd cut all the unnecessary lugs off before coating but they'll have to stay on now. Progress is a bit slow at the moment. The swing arm mounts and various other bits have been sent for plating and the machine shop still have the gearbox.

jeremyr62, 23/11/2016 at 9:08 PM

Before I bought my VF500 I looked it the oil mod thing really carefully. No evidence either way on the oil mod for the VF500 IMO. No real evidence for any of the VF bikes in my opinion. Loads of anecdotal stuff but nothing remotely like real evidence. Maybe the really crappy VF750S and VF750FD models right at the start in 83 and 84 would have benefited from better top end lubrication but who knows. Its been done to death millions of time already and I have never seen any compelling evidence it improved anything.

I looked into it in depth too & yes you are correct no real cam lobe wear issues like the 750. That said, Honda truly cocked up by sending unfiltered oil to the plain bearing head at low pressure. The high pressure kit is not there primarily to stop that wear, it's there to provide clean filtered hp oil to the CAM bearings. This will increase the longevity of the engine & increases the head cooling a little. Mine definately ran cooler after that mod.

Well if you have to keep the charging circuit, cut the rotor down, rather machine it thinner or cur it back so it does not cover the whole of the stator, or both. A VFR400 race generator may fit on the 500 crank. As it will be running at high rpm most of the time you don't need a high output charging circuit.

Swap the battery to a lightweight lithium unit too, that will save about 3kg of weight front behind the centre of mass.

frame looks good 😊 

It's easier to fit a flywheel from a GSXR. They are about 700g. I'll be posting some pics when it's done but it is essentially the same modification that has been done on the VFR400NC30 before. You have to machine a mounting for the windings to fit inside the cover instead of to the crank cases but one that is done it's more or less a straight fit. The crank taper and primary drive splines are the same for both bikes. Definitely going with lithium battery though, they are amazing.

Awesome work with all of this but please beware of re-using those old, fatigued valves and trying to push them into high revs.  New valves are available, not cheap but they're out there unless you have your old decrepit valves examined very closely, I wouldn't go through all this using 30+ year old used valves.  I just recently rebuilt an 84 with new springs, one of my perfect looking used valves snapped at the cotter and ruined the engine just 1500 miles after the rebuild.  Just sayin, it happens ALOT with these bikes, ALOT.  The valves are the weak point of these engines, not necessarily the springs, CCT's, or cams, it's the actual valves in my very humble opinion.  I know from first hand experience unfortunately, taking every precaution making sure the valves LOOK great wasn't enough for me.  I replaced 3 valves with slightly damaged tips and the rest were perfect (looking anyway).   

Props on actually finding bearings, you must have gotten lucky they happened to have the color yours needed.  Great luck.

Custom valves available from http://shop.kpmivalvetrain.com/

They would probably do a custom kit (valves, seats, guides, springs, retainers, keepers), but I'd guess that would run $800USD for the valves alone, probably $1500USD total. That's a lot of money when the bikes aren't worth that much most times.

But I bet there would be a handful of people who would buy a full kit.

jeremyr62, 11/23/2016 at 1:08 PM

Before I bought my VF500 I looked it the oil mod thing really carefully. No evidence either way on the oil mod for the VF500 IMO. No real evidence for any of the VF bikes in my opinion. Loads of anecdotal stuff but nothing remotely like real evidence. Maybe the really crappy VF750S and VF750FD models right at the start in 83 and 84 would have benefited from better top end lubrication but who knows. Its been done to death millions of time already and I have never seen any compelling evidence it improved anything.

Hey Jeremy, nice to see you over here too.  I just thought of something, have you ever seen/heard of an oil modded bike dropping a valve?  I can't say I have. 

Thanks for the advice. I decided to do the oil mod anyway, more oil can't be a bad thing and while the engine is down it would be daft not to.

Plug out and rag in there.

Hole drilled and dressed with a file

NPT fitting screwed in

Elbow ready for hose. Dead easy job with the engine down.

14 hours ago, jrodrims27

Awesome work with all of this but please beware of re-using those old, fatigued valves and trying to push them into high revs.  New valves are available, not cheap but they're out there unless you have your old decrepit valves examined very closely, I wouldn't go through all this using 30+ year old used valves.  I just recently rebuilt an 84 with new springs, one of my perfect looking used valves snapped at the cotter and ruined the engine just 1500 miles after the rebuild.  Just sayin, it happens ALOT with these bikes, ALOT.  The valves are the weak point of these engines, not necessarily the springs, CCT's, or cams, it's the actual valves in my very humble opinion.  I know from first hand experience unfortunately, taking every precaution making sure the valves LOOK great wasn't enough for me.  I replaced 3 valves with slightly damaged tips and the rest were perfect (looking anyway).  

Props on actually finding bearings, you must have gotten lucky they happened to have the color yours needed.  Great luck.

It is a tough decision with cost. I have replaced the valves that show any signs of wear, particularly around the seat but I have kept most of them because they look perfect. I will be running standard springs, cams and rev limit so I'm not asking too much more of them. If cost was no restriction I would surely be getting all new. Hopefully all that extra oil  will help!!

So what date/race are you aiming for the bike to debute?

2 hours ago, Dutchy

So what date/race are you aiming for the bike to debute?

Hey Dutchy. It's going to be entered in the "Endurance Legends" race at Donington Park on 6th May 2017. That will almost certainly be it's only race!!

http://www.endurancelegends.co.uk/

Here is some of the more serious competition

http://www.motorcyclelive.co.uk/feature/suzuki-katana-endurance-racer-build/

4 hours ago, sportstu

It is a tough decision with cost. I have replaced the valves that show any signs of wear, particularly around the seat but I have kept most of them because they look perfect. I will be running standard springs, cams and rev limit so I'm not asking too much more of them. If cost was no restriction I would surely be getting all new. Hopefully all that extra oil  will help!!

Very smart decision to go with the oiling mod kit, I, myself haven't heard of a dropped valve using an oiling kit.  Not saying it hasn't, can't or won't happen of course.  

19 hours ago, jrodrims27

Hey Jeremy, nice to see you over here too.  I just thought of something, have you ever seen/heard of an oil modded bike dropping a valve?  I can't say I have. 

Yes, I frequent all the VF groups. I don't get out much either :-)

No, can't say I have heard of a oil modded bike dropping a valve. But then again there are plenty of high mileage bikes out there that haven't been modded and haven't dropped valves either. Oil modded bikes are much more likely to receive plenty of TLC too which can't hurt longevity.

Your failure was very unusual because it was an intake valve. I haven't seen that before. You were very unlucky IMO.

As the OPs engine is being raced, an oil mod while he has it apart makes sense. It will be really interesting to see how it holds up.

19 hours ago, sportstu

Hey Dutchy. It's going to be entered in the "Endurance Legends" race at Donington Park on 6th May 2017. That will almost certainly be it's only race!!

http://www.endurancelegends.co.uk/

hhhmmmm,   if I'm still UB40 by then and there's camping at the track.............. 

Lots of camping and the Saturday is a track day so you can take your VFR out on track for a blast if you fancy it.

jeremyr62, 11/29/2016 at 3:02 PM

Yes, I frequent all the VF groups. I don't get out much either :-)

No, can't say I have heard of a oil modded bike dropping a valve. But then again there are plenty of high mileage bikes out there that haven't been modded and haven't dropped valves either. Oil modded bikes are much more likely to receive plenty of TLC too which can't hurt longevity.

Your failure was very unusual because it was an intake valve. I haven't seen that before. You were very unlucky IMO.

As the OPs engine is being raced, an oil mod while he has it apart makes sense. It will be really interesting to see how it holds up.

I actually do have a bunch of luck, unfortunately, it's almost always bad.  Oh well.  

I'm just trying to figure out a way where I don't have to pull my engine, rebuild another set of heads and all that sort of fun stuff again.  This OPs engine will be a step closer to being a bit safer with the oiling mod.  If the oiling mod does really provide more lubrication which in turn results in better cooling of the valve train components then at least you try to improve on two elements (lack of lubrication and excessive heat) that COULD clearly cause premature stress and damage on the valves.  An oiling kit wouldn't have prevented my unusual cotter groove break on an intake valve with a perfect tip but I want to minimize my chances for encountering normal, everyday, not-surprising, run-of-the-mill type VF500F valve dropping.   

A little bit of progress. I've had the heads aqua blasted and had the casting seams removed in the ports, looking good. I'm not sure whether to paint them or leave them natural, they do look a bit different. New valve seals and o rings on the rocker shafts, plus 3 new valves. I had .15 removed from the face.

Also got 2nd gear back from the engineers, should clear the casing now.

N-I-C-E, very, very nice!  They look really cool with the natural aluminum color.  Coincidentally, I had to replace only 3 valves myself when I rebuilt my 84 engine (before it blew up).  I wonder if it was the same 3, I replaced two rear exhausts and a front intake.  Anyway, awesome job, very well done!  I'm super jealous! I hope you'll be able to show us your final product and maybe even a video of it in real action.  

Nice to see another 500 back on the track..

We left most of the casings just with a blasted finish.. In my opinion a plus on the Cooling factor.. And cooling is what you gonna need on a VF500..

Fabbed a VF750F bottom rad to fit within the headlight cluster for additional cooling,,

1 hour ago, jrodrims27

N-I-C-E, very, very nice!  They look really cool with the natural aluminum color.  Coincidentally, I had to replace only 3 valves myself when I rebuilt my 84 engine (before it blew up).  I wonder if it was the same 3, I replaced two rear exhausts and a front intake.  Anyway, awesome job, very well done!  I'm super jealous! I hope you'll be able to show us your final product and maybe even a video of it in real action.  

3 valves in the rear head, all in the same pot. Two exhaust and an Inlet. I think it was running lean on that one. I'm pretty sure there will be lots of pics when it's done. 

50 minutes ago, TheDutchy

We left most of the casings just with a blasted finish.. In my opinion a plus on the Cooling factor.. And cooling is what you gonna need on a VF500..

Fabbed a VF750F bottom rad to fit within the headlight cluster for additional cooling,,

Nice looking bike, I do like the natural casings. Did you lacquer them? As yours is race ready why not enter too???

Great solution to the cooling, I was intending to fit a larger curved radiator and cut the fairing a little bit.

This is turning into an epic thread. Keep it up.

The small top radiator add-on realy did the trick on the VF500.. We predomantly use it on classic street track racing.. So lots of upshifts to maybe 4th gear and then back to 2nd or 1st.. Last race was at the 4hrs of Itterbeck, a 4hr endurance race. She held up nicely. Temperature cauge stayed within the first quart, maybe in between the first quart and halve range at pitstops. Engine used about 1 litre of oil during the whole 4 hour event.. Something you have to notice on endurance racing.. On normal 20 minute stints, the engine does not consume any oil, but on 4 hours of racing it realy evaporates the oil...

On the VF500 we blew two '85 engines... And all on the first races used within 20 minutes.. The top ends were no issue, both engines severed a conrod run out on #4.  The biggest issue is caused by the undersized oilpump on the early models.. The '86 version has a larger oilpump. Also the oilsump on the '86 is substantualy larger.. So gaet a '86 VF500FII oilpan and oilpump with sprocket.. (Sprocket on the 86 is also different from the early models)..  

Second is the carbrail.. I explained somewhere else on the board:

1 hour ago, sportstu

Nice looking bike, I do like the natural casings. Did you lacquer them? As yours is race ready why not enter too???

Great solution to the cooling, I was intending to fit a larger curved radiator and cut the fairing a little bit.

Thanks..

On the engine... No lacquer on the engine casings and heads.. A rough surface has a larger contact surface to cool down.. The lacquer would isolate the area.. I will shoot some pics on the engine this weekend.. We don't clean the engine for shining purpose.. We use it to go racing.. And after a couple of years, it still looks good.. And yeah... To me... Endurance means performance over looks.. The other project, a VFR RC24 endurance racer, the real deal... Was designed and raced the 24hrs of Bol D'or and Le Mans..

So maybe that's what we ordinary VF500 owners should be doing. Trying to fit a bigger/better or additional radiator. If a VF500 can stand multiple endurance races with better cooling then it does point to heat being a major factor in longevity, which is common sense really. I have the override fan switch already fitted but maybe a second rad into the belly pan area might be possible too.

9 hours ago, jeremyr62

So maybe that's what we ordinary VF500 owners should be doing. Trying to fit a bigger/better or additional radiator. If a VF500 can stand multiple endurance races with better cooling then it does point to heat being a major factor in longevity, which is common sense really. I have the override fan switch already fitted but maybe a second rad into the belly pan area might be possible too.

When I built this I had a lower VF750 radiator set aside to fit down behind the front wheel.  Never got around to it, but I might still do it for street use.  This old girl might have a couple track days in the future too, though.

Great project you got going.  Keep it up.  I'm loving it, and wanted to show you why.

That's a tidy one. Did you have to mount the fairing lower to clear the clip-ons. What shock are you using in there?

44 minutes ago, sportstu

That's a tidy one. Did you have to mount the fairing lower to clear the clip-ons. What shock are you using in there?

Yep that's correct.  Cowl down and forward, gauges up and forward.  I configured the Telefix clip-ons pretty low and forward but I don't want to limit the steering range.  The rear ride height is pretty high (via a Fox Twin-Clicker by the way) and I slid the forks (w/ Gold Valves) up a bit.  I never had any head shake, so I wasn't concerned about limiting the steer lock in case of a tank slapper.  I didn't run a steering damper either. 

Here you can see where I tucked the remote reservoir for the shock.  The 86 had a smaller coolant over flow tank and left that little space in the inner fender.

Amazing bike Captain.  I've seen your youtube video where you let us hear that great exhaust note.  No top end oiling kit for you?? 

I built that bike in 1999, not a lot of internet resources back then for detailed info.   I think Dale Walker was selling some kits?  I just built the best bike I could, with the parts I had and what I knew at the time.  I did recently score a filter adapter kit off of a 500 parts bike I got for free.  Not sure which bike it will go on, but probably the next 500 I build.  Or maybe a VF750F I built last year.  It is getting a full Sudco, Fox Shock and 1000R Comstars. 

A very nice project Captain !!!

I thought I'd start on the forks while I'm waiting for the modified gearbox shaft to be finished. I'm using VFR400NC30 fork lowers so that I can use VFR400 4 pot calipers bolted straight up but I need the forks to be much longer than VFR400 ones overall so I am going to use CBR600 F2 stanchions and cartridges. I have used this set up once before and it works well.

I bought a set of CBR forks which were in dire need of a rebuild, I had some VFR400 lowers from an old project. I've split lots of forks over the years but one of these beat me at the separation phase and as I only needed the stanchion I ended up cutting it.

The problem was that the slider bush was going inside the guide bush. No amount of heat and pressure helped. It's the first one I've failed at.

The NC30 lower is on the right, CBR600 on the left.NC30 stanchion on the right. There's a big difference in the length but the travel is similar so it's no problem to interchange them.

The CBR cartridge has the top out spring set higher so I'm swapping the damper rod into the NC30 cartridge lower.

You would think that the CBR set up would have more available travel but the NC30 cartridge has 175mm against the CBR 170mm.

This is the difference in length when they are both fully extended.
I'm off to get new bushes, seals and some paint for the lowers now!

Will there be anything from the VF500 left on the bike :-)

3 hours ago, jeremyr62

Will there be anything from the VF500 left on the bike :-)

The tank maybe???

Any more news/pictures??? :tongue:

Yep, I have moved forward a little bit this week but not as much as I would have liked. I am still waiting for the return of my modified gear shaft as well as some bits that are at the platers before I can start the engine build so I have been cracking on with the chassis. I have now built the forks using a combination of bits from the early CBR and the NC30. Pics below. I have had the wheels coated and they look awesome. The pile of nice clean finished parts waiting for assembly is now bigger than the pile of grotty bits which makes me feel that we are getting there! Compression stack coming out.CBR on the left, alloy and plastic, NC30 on the right, all steel and heavy.

The NC30 piston has the rebound valve body at the top of the fork leg.

CBR one on the left has the valve at the bottom with a long rod controlling the needle

Sprayed fork legs look great from a distance!

Gold of course

My shed is gettin full of shiny bits. I can't wait to get the motor done now.

I have ordered a 86 oil pump, sump pan and pick up pipe as advised by The Dutchy and I'm starting on the brakes next week if my gearbox parts are still not here. I should have the front end assembled by the end of the week but I can't do the rear until the engine is fitted because I can't be sure of the chain line with the CBR wheel and the longer output shaft on the gearbox. Small steps.............

So awesome! The 500 is one of my most favorite bikes. Back in the day I had a 1982 GPZ and my dad had a 500 interceptor. The interceptors handling was sooooo superior, loved that bike. Very cool!

You are a saint for saving this one, sportstu.  Enjoying the thread and wishing you success and enjoyment.

Fantastic stuff...wish my build could move along like this.

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Did a little bit today. The best progress was chasing up the machine shop to get the output shaft done asap so that I can get the motor together, they said to call them on Wednesday!!

Anyway, I re-finished the yokes and ordered some new titanium pinch bolts so the forks are pretty much ready to fit

Shot blasted the deep sump ready for paint

And started  on the calipers. The pistons were well and truly stock. No amount of air would blow them out so it was heat and a blind bearing puller. Surprisingly the pistons will all go again with a bit of attention so it's just going to be new seals, a good clean and maybe some paint.

I'm hoping to have a lot more done by the end of the week. Although we're not racing until May I want to have it assembled in January so that it can go off to the exhaust builder in one piece and then onto the dyno by the end of February. We have a chance to do a couple of sprint races in March to shake out any problems and still have time to put things right. In between we have Christmas, new year and a weeks holiday in the Canary islands as well as a week in Spain in February so if I don't push on now I'll run out of time!!

I'm also putting the cbr 600 front end on my vf750[image: emoji106.png] rear swingarm too.

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I will take the cover of my VF500 tomorrow and give her a gentle, reassuring rub....  

"Yeah honey, I have been ogling some tasty bits of your "racy" sister,

but you are the one I love..."   :goofy:

I got some bits back from the platers today, cam covers look ok, these are not plated, just polished. The rest of the bits have been zinc plated for resistance to corrosion and a bit of a factory finish

Right. A bit of development on project close ratio gearbox. This gets a bit confusing and I haven't yet found a solution but hopefully I'll have this sorted over the weekend. I have had the output shaft machined, the 2nd gear pinion ground to a taper to clear the crank case casting and built up the shaft again with shims to line the input and output gears. So far so good right?

Everything lines up perfectly, uou can see the taper on the 2nd gear, lovely job!

So, the next job was to fit the lower case and check that it shifts through all the gears, here is where it all went a bit weird. 

Running through the gears using the shift lever. The mechanism was really bad and wouldn't easily shift through the gears. However, if I rotated the shift drum manually, it all engaged perfectly. What was strange was when I compared the NC30 shift drum with the VF500 drum the were completely different in terms of the groove map, however, all the gears are located in the same place and the clearances are the same so I am at a loss to reason that one out. What I planned to do was to replace the VF drum with the NC drum but that is where I hit a snag, the shift mech is completely different. The VF uses two detent wheel, one for gear engagement and one for neutral whereas the NC just has the one. Not sure if I can get around this but watch this space!!

This is the end of the shift drum on the VF500. 

This is the NC30 one. You can see that it has a locating dowel in the centre and space for only one detent wheel. 

The bottom line is that I don't think that I can swap one for the other but because all of the gears are located in a common way I should be able to find a way to make it work, just not sure how yet. I'm spending tomorrow with 2 parts lists for reference, 2 workshop manuals and a lot of loose parts. Wish me luck!

You've done well and covered alot of bases, but i want to know how long it last on track b4 it drops a valve and blows bigtime.

3 hours ago, squirrelman

You've done well and covered alot of bases, but i want to know how long it last on track b4 it drops a valve and blows bigtime.

Sure, I get asked that by a few folk. During the race series back in the day there were anything up to 40 bikes competing at multiple rounds and there wasn't any evidence of engine blow ups or dropped valves. I'm not convinced that these are any more or less reliable than most bikes from that era, it's just that they are tarnished with the reputation by the VF750 issues. I found this quote from a racer back in the day:  "We did a support race at Donington Transatlantic Trophy when it was snowing. All the USA riders were huddled around a couple of space heaters in one of the garages. Then Shwantz & Merkel did their amazing display of riding ! I only raced the VF500 once, at Brands in 87, it was Paul Stows bike from the 86 Cup series, and I think Lee Finney had been using it as a courier bike for quite a few months before we race it. I think it had 30,000 odd miles on it. Still lasted the 6 hours though".

All I can do is try to build it right and hope for the best.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a brain wave. I am obviously spending too much time on this if I'm thinking about it in my sleep!!

Anyway, it occurred to me that the shift pattern HAD to be the same on both clusters, there is no way that the forks can move the gears to a different position when I know for a fact that the gears are in the same position on the shafts, so 1st on one set is where 1st is on the other and so on. However, what had thrown me was looking at the groove pattern in each shift drum and seeing that they were totally different, it can't work right?

So waking up I realised that, while the shift pattern had to be the same, the drums didn't necessarily have to rotate the same way, one could go clockwise and the other counter. That explains  why they looked different when I rotated them both the same way.

I came into the workshop this morning and BINGO, rotate them opposite ways and they are the same.

So, the issue I had with selection should be down to the shift mechanism, which I hadn't stripped, without that fitted and rotating the drum by hand it's all good so I'm going to re-assemble the shift mechanism properly and hopefully have some good news.

Interesting Project! I wish I had time and money for these kind of projects!

WAHEY!!!!!!!!!

And as for the "dropped valve" mythos....  Yes Yoshi had it happen, but over on the a Dutch forum, a Ducati Diavel rider (he used his bike for commuting!!!) had his engine go booommm. A conrod shouted "FREEEEEEEEEDDOOMMMMM". Now Ducati says "out of warranty, goodbye". So the "ducati sucks, this is your own stupid mistake for buying a ducati" is out in force.......    Such is life.

I will check out an SP2 tomorrow.....  fingers crossed..

We will not name names, but there IS this guy who did an epic trip to go get a VF500F2 and then sold it because VF500's cannot be relied on (and ok there was a leak near the front sprocket as well).   :goofy:

PS: you are always welcome to stay at our  place if you want to pick up another bike in NL MR "xxx" :goofy:

If you google dropped valves, you get thousands of hits for a huge variety of engines, so it's not like it is something that only afflicts the VF500.

It does happen but I think it's overstated myself. I used to try keeping the revs down but that misses the point of the VF500 IMO. A well sorted cooling system is key I reckon.

I do admire the skills and resources of the OP. 

12 hours ago, sportstu

I woke up in the middle of the night with a brain wave. I am obviously spending too much time on this if I'm thinking about it in my sleep!!

Anyway, it occurred to me that the shift pattern HAD to be the same on both clusters, there is no way that the forks can move the gears to a different position when I know for a fact that the gears are in the same position on the shafts, so 1st on one set is where 1st is on the other and so on. However, what had thrown me was looking at the groove pattern in each shift drum and seeing that they were totally different, it can't work right?

So waking up I realised that, while the shift pattern had to be the same, the drums didn't necessarily have to rotate the same way, one could go clockwise and the other counter. That explains  why they looked different when I rotated them both the same way.

I came into the workshop this morning and BINGO, rotate them opposite ways and they are the same.

So, the issue I had with selection should be down to the shift mechanism, which I hadn't stripped, without that fitted and rotating the drum by hand it's all good so I'm going to re-assemble the shift mechanism properly and hopefully have some good news.

aaaah, simply the shift mechanism.  Great midnight resolution.  I know that exact feeling when I have a hanging problem I need to solve.  I never stop thinking about it until it's done.

For us strictly street folk, I assume the NC30 tranny is that much better than the VF's?  Much tighter ratios intended for racing (not street) maybe?  Is it much more durable?  Not that it matters now after you've accomplished so much but isn't a variation of sprockets much easier if all you want is lower/higher gearing?  

10 hours ago, Dutchy

WAHEY!!!!!!!!!

And as for the "dropped valve" mythos....  Yes Yoshi had it happen, but over on the a Dutch forum, a Ducati Diavel rider (he used his bike for commuting!!!) had his engine go booommm. A conrod shouted "FREEEEEEEEEDDOOMMMMM". Now Ducati says "out of warranty, goodbye". So the "ducati sucks, this is your own stupid mistake for buying a ducati" is out in force.......    Such is life.

I will check out an SP2 tomorrow.....  fingers crossed..

We will not name names, but there IS this guy who did an epic trip to go get a VF500F2 and then sold it because VF500's cannot be relied on (and ok there was a leak near the front sprocket as well).   :goofy:

Do you use the oiling mod on your VF500F's?

No I don't on mine, but 5-6000km oil change and valve check.

She is due and come spring it is planned for.

14 hours ago, jrodrims27

aaaah, simply the shift mechanism.  Great midnight resolution.  I know that exact feeling when I have a hanging problem I need to solve.  I never stop thinking about it until it's done.

For us strictly street folk, I assume the NC30 tranny is that much better than the VF's?  Much tighter ratios intended for racing (not street) maybe?  Is it much more durable?  Not that it matters now after you've accomplished so much but isn't a variation of sprockets much easier if all you want is lower/higher gearing?  

I don't think it would be worth it for street. The gear clusters are similar build although the NC30 has more splines on the shaft which may be stronger, I'm not sure. The NC30 ratios are taller than the VF in 1st 2nd and 3rd and shorter in all the others. Because in a race situation you don't really need to worry about hill starts, pillion riding, traffic and cruising at constant speed the closer box is more relevant. The idea is that the ratios will keep the motor spinning in it's most efficient zone because it won't be dropping as many revs on each shift. Most of the riding will be between say 50 and 120mph with a following wind so I'll use the external gear ratios to gear that accordingly but the internal ratios will help make the most of the limited power of the bike. There is a great web site called gearingcommander.com. you can work out your top speed at a given rev limit and also change the wheel sizes, sprocket sizes and primary drive ratios. It will also tell you max speed in each gear. It's been a really useful source for me. 

Great result. I have rebuilt the shift mechanism which was a bit fiddly to do and set up but now that it is working I have a full set of 6 gears shifting nicely, at least as nicely as they can when you are turning the shaft by hand. 

I'm not doing anything else until Monday when I'll re-split the crank cases and start the engine rebuild properly. It's getting near to the fun part now.........

Dutchy, ‎16‎.‎12‎.‎2016 at 0:04 PM

We will not name names, but there IS this guy who did an epic trip to go get a VF500F2 and then sold it because VF500's cannot be relied on (and ok there was a leak near the front sprocket as well).   :goofy:

I know this bastard to :wink:

And then he go and get a CBX750F whit an even worse repurtation............. :blush:

It's been a bit slow this week but I have started the rebuild proper. I had to do one more modification on the gearbox. There was a 0.4mm gap between the inside edge of the input bearing and the crank case so when you tightened up the clamp plate behind the clutch it loaded the bearing which would undoubtedly have failed. There was also a similar discrepancy in the clearance between the left and right dogs when it was in neutral so I had 0.4 machined off the bearing cap on the opposite end of the shaft to move the whole shaft that way. It's bloody perfect now, at last!!

0.4mm, it makes all the difference.

I've spent a bit of time cleaning up the crank journals. There was a very small amount of scoring on one of them but it came off with fine scotchbrite and autosol polish. I also cleaned out the oilways with brake cleaner and blasted them through with air, there was a hell of a lot of sludge in there.

Fitted the new bearings and span the crank up, no dramas at all

Getting the pistons in was a bit of a bitch. Unfortunately once they were in I managed to pop one out again by accident so ended up doing some of it twice. They are lovely and snug in the bores though. I then made a right fool of myself by fitting the crank and lining up the rods before realising that the new cam chains were still in their boxes on the bench. As I lifted the crank out I popped the same piston out again so I have now fitted that one 3 times. Anyway new chains on, new slippers, con rods in place, all looking good. I would have the halves back together but the clutch rod oil seal is stock in the post somewhere due to the postal guys being on strike so I'm as far as I can go until that lands here.

I'm in awe...

Got to love this. Terrible quality but some proper old school carnage in the VF500 cup on public roads. It's impressive how quick these change direction.

30 years ago. Blimey.

I wonder how much tweaking they could do. 4 into 1 for sure.

I assume your engine is an 84/85? You might be interested in these

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/52364-VF500F-Yoshimura-stage-2-cams

14 minutes ago, jeremyr62

30 years ago. Blimey.

I wonder how much tweaking they could do. 4 into 1 for sure.

I assume your engine is an 84/85? You might be interested in these

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/52364-VF500F-Yoshimura-stage-2-cams

The UK series only allowed minimal mods, just a Motad exhaust I think. Cams are interesting but not for me. Can't imagine there would be a huge market for them anymore though.

Yes, he wants big bucks for them too. I doubt they could make a much of a difference anyway.

Pity there is so little info about that race series. I was actually around the UK then and following GPs at that time, but the UK VF500 series never appeared on my radar as far as I can remember. And I was (very poor) VF400 owner in 1984/5 too, so would have been paying some attention.

was reading this far and saw that jeremyr62 owned a Vf400 so I'm curious to know if you had any valve problems with that bike too.  My '85 VF500F is apart now and so I read everything I find concerning the valve-train.  oh for the chance to talk with someone at Honda who actually tried to solve the problems.   gears fixed it but what else did they discover?  us diehards that want to keep them running would love to hear what they know.   Trial and error with used parts seems too "Burt Munro-ish". ... but it is an interesting puzzle.

I owned two VF400's from new and did 30,000-odd km on each. Never gave me a moments grief, and I don't recall hearing of any failures around then either; I worked part-time at a Honda dealership and kept my ear to the ground. Very different to the VF750F that I owned around the same time which needed new tensioners and camchains in the brief time I owned it. I recall that one of the magic mechanics replaced the camchains in-situ, splitting the links and re-joining the new one like you would a drive chain, using a hammer and punch. Clever chappie.

Right. I've got the main part of the motor back together and torqued up. Everything is turning nicely so I'm feeling optimistic.

I'm going to use the primary drive gear and clutch from the racier NC30, partly because it is a slightly different ratio but mainly because it is lighter and stronger than the VF one. The NC30 has 10 friction plates to the VF's 8. Because 1st gear is now so tall it's probably a good idea to have a bit more friction area. It does very slightly foul the clutch casing but I can take a little material off the inside with a file and it'll work.

Fitted with the NC30 Clutch.

NC30 primary at the top, much lighter

Narrower teeth, may reduce friction??

It's a worthwhile saving.

With the flywheel modification that I'm planning on top of this I should save nearly 3kg off the rotating mass of the crank. Hopefully the little motor will spin up really rapidly.

All being well I should have the heads on tomorrow. It's actually starting to look like an engine again.....

Had a couple of issues so it's gone a bit slower than I intended but I did get the rear head on today. 

Everything on the camshaft drive train is new, chains, tensioner spring, slipper and guide. I polished up the cam lobes and bearing surfaces as much as I could which took a lot of time. They do show some wear but I think they are OK.

Plain head against black casings...... I think it looks mega!!

"Oh man, it is MEGA..."  :goofy:

[image: Photo-of-Dave-and-Si-from-THE-HAIRY-BIKE]

Great to find someone else still working on this bike even if on the other side of the planet. Magics of the www.

I'm also working on my vf400f, and am very happy you confirm that nc30 gears can be fitted into the vf. Could you please clear out what did you modify to make the clutch properly fit? I get the yoshimura stage two cams (very hot) I'm going to fit nextly, I'm also planning for the 418cc piston kit and a modified nc30 exhaust to be fitted in conjunction with the nc30 carbs or (better) fcr32mm. I will aslo fit the nc30 rear end with nc35 wheel and nc35 front end sitting in my bedroom fully rebuilded. I'm close to the fifties but still hart beating for this bike. Please keep us informed.

cheers

Pietro

By the way I'm the one who wants big bucks! ;-D

jeremyr62, 1/12/2016 at 10:32 PM

This is turning into an epic thread. Keep it up.

That's it

Amazing work Sportstu, this build and 'Dutchy's' clean f2 convinced me to get this '85 500f2...... Came as a package, 750 & 500 for $500.00.[image: 35543153e23ba1a68cb62c0f524556c5.jpg]

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10 hours ago, Forbes

Amazing work Sportstu, this build and 'Dutchy's' clean f2 convinced me to get this '85 500f2...... Came as a package, 750 & 500 for $500.00.[image: 35543153e23ba1a68cb62c0f524556c5.jpg]

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk
 

Wow, you got a job on there. What's the plan for them?

13 hours ago, pietro

Great to find someone else still working on this bike even if on the other side of the planet. Magics of the www.

I'm also working on my vf400f, and am very happy you confirm that nc30 gears can be fitted into the vf. Could you please clear out what did you modify to make the clutch properly fit? I get the yoshimura stage two cams (very hot) I'm going to fit nextly, I'm also planning for the 418cc piston kit and a modified nc30 exhaust to be fitted in conjunction with the nc30 carbs or (better) fcr32mm. I will aslo fit the nc30 rear end with nc35 wheel and nc35 front end sitting in my bedroom fully rebuilded. I'm close to the fifties but still hart beating for this bike. Please keep us informed.

cheers

Pietro

Big plans there mate. I fitted the clutch to the input shaft but of course it is a NC30 shaft anyway. The splines are the same I think so if you just wanted to fit a NC30 clutch it would bolt straight up as long as you use the NC30 primary drive gear as well because the gearing is slightly different. Mine fouled the inside of the clutch housing but only by a tiny amount so 2 mins with a file and it was sorted.

Interesting idea with the carbs, I guess the spacing is wider on the VF500 because of the cam chain tunnels, have you offered them up at all? I have a couple of sets lying about so I may give that a shot.

Good luck with the build. Post some pics.

sportstu Wow, you got a job on there. What's the plan for them?
 

Forbes, 12/31/2016 at 7:19 PM

Amazing work Sportstu, this build and 'Dutchy's' clean f2 convinced me to get this '85 500f2...... Came as a package, 750 & 500 for $500.00.[image: 35543153e23ba1a68cb62c0f524556c5.jpg]

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Zoomed out pic with the full car and the bikes in view? Those things are unobtanium here, love those truckcars. Also, awesome deal.

Off topic, but a teaser...
I love my UTE(as they're called here), six litre, six speed manual, full race exhaust twenty inch rims(from GTS sedan) and I build my own sound systems. It's a really fun vehicle to drive..
Pic below when it was a bit newer, still looks good though![image: ef21cfd352245403bd98ed29d5125d40.jpg]

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Sweet ride, never understood why they didn't start bringing them here.

Ute............   I recall a German lady with said name....   :wub:

Back on topic............

Looking forward to see and hear her run for the 1st time..

Me too Dutchy, had a few issues today. I was fitting a new "r" clip to the cam chain tensioner assembly but it sprang off and disappeared. I searched for at least an hour before concluding it must have gone into the motor. I had to take the head off again to be sure and found it wedged behind the cam chain slipper! Real bad luck.

SEBSPEED Sweet ride, never understood why they didn't start bringing them here.

We (well, when I was growing up in the USA) used to have the similarly styled Chevy El Caminos and Ford Rancheros, but they were discontinued by the late '80s.  I used to drive the shop's El Camino when I worked in a speed shop in Southern California in the '80s.  It was a shed, quite frankly, but had a hot rodded engine and headers (of course), so sounded nice! 

Ciao,

Finally found time to get the bulk of the motor built. I have a race engine woohoo!

Got a bit nervous pulling the cotter out of the cam tensioner after losing the R clip in the motor earlier in the build so I lock-wired it first! One cam was pretty badly pitted so that took a good few hours of polishing until I was happy. Took a better shot of the de-seamed ports, as well. I will hopefully have the modified generator cover back next week so that I can do the flywheel modification and then it's just the oil and water pumps and we're good to go!

[image: Image100.jpg][image: Image102.jpg][image: Image103.jpg][image: Image105.jpg][image: Image106.jpg]

On to the chassis assembly next!

Mmm, starting to like the silver of the heads against the black bottom end.
Mighty fine progress!

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Awesome work Sportstu.  I hope it runs as great as it looks.  Can't say I've seen anyone do a better job on such a complete rebuild while showing their progress.  Thank you!  I'm very envious of your skills and resources.  

7 hours ago, jrodrims27

Awesome work Sportstu.  I hope it runs as great as it looks.  Can't say I've seen anyone do a better job on such a complete rebuild while showing their progress.  Thank you!  I'm very envious of your skills and resources.

Thank you Jrod. I will be a bit apprehensive before the first start up but you can only do what you can do right? The way I look at it the motor's only got to last for a bit of testing and one 4 hour race, after that the bike's retiring to my shed!

Cheers

8 hours ago, sportstu

Thank you Jrod. I will be a bit apprehensive before the first start up but you can only do what you can do right? The way I look at it the motor's only got to last for a bit of testing and one 4 hour race, after that the bike's retiring to my shed!

Cheers

All that work for just 4 hours of fun?  You can't ride something like that on the streets over there just by slapping some reflectors and lights on it?  I hope it turns out to be a great and memorable 4 hours for you though.  

You wouldn't even try to run that bike again in a similar event or is that your MO, just build one, race it and move on to the next one?  Living the dream right there pal! 

Forbes, 1/2/2017 at 5:16 PM

They were designed for left hand drive, and were going to be exported to the US, but GFC in 2009 killed it. Now GM has killed production in Australia, so this is the last year of manufacture. V8's on the demise.....
There were two guy's in the US importing 2nd hand one's, said they couldn't get enough...if you ever get the opportunity, go for it.....almost as good as riding a V4...
Ok, end of that!

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk
 

Yeah, I was lusting for the Pontiac version when they came stateside.  Then GM killed off Pontiac and we never saw it here.  There was an imported one running around locally a couple of years ago.

1 minute ago, jrodrims27

All that work for just 4 hours of fun?  You can't ride something like that on the streets over there just by slapping some reflectors and lights on it?  I hope it turns out to be a great and memorable 4 hours for you though.  

You wouldn't even try to run that bike again in a similar event or is that your MO, just build one, race it and move on to the next one?  Living the dream right there pal! 

Something like that mate. We mainly race in the national endurance series over here on modern kit.I haven't ridden street for years now, too much traffic and too cold in the Uk! I just fancied something different so we're doing this classic endurance race for a bit of fun. I was going to buy the bike, get it running and race it almost stock but when it turned up the sump was full of petrol and the head gasket had failed so it turned into a full on rebuild and then snowballed from there. If it survives then it may come out again sometime but there's no plans at the moment......

There's a reasonable market for VF500 spares on Ebay. You could always break it and sell it. Decent petrol tanks are like hen's teeth so go for good money.

Only break it if you need the cash.

Money is only good when you spend it....

I never break them, I get emotionally attached to easily!!

It took an act of God a distracted cager for me to break my beloved redslut...

:mad:

[image: IMAG5007.jpg]

Dutchy It took an act of God a distracted cager for me to break my beloved redslut...
 
:mad:
 
 
[image: IMAG5007.jpg]
 

I found this while researching the oil mod. It would appear, in the right hands, the VF500 can be a tough motor. Your 4 hour race should be a piece of cake if this chaps experience is anything to go by.

"- All I might be like a million years behind on this but..... Proper warm up before leaning on the VF500 motor is the key! I have an 84 or 85 model that well. Check out my FB pages Joe Heffernan, Foil Hat Racing, and Bikes Built Better as well as websites. I have been land speed racing the same VF500 since June of 2011. It's turbocharged, and the turbo is fed oil tapped off the oil line to the rear head, regular oil changes of course. This motor had 43,000 miles on it before I started putting it to such abuse. This motor has close to 30 LSR passes on it as well as 20 or more FULL power dyno pulls with as much as 14 PSI of boost applied. The motor has also seen 13,500 RPM spikes as well as sustained (30 sec) at 12,500 (covers two miles in a hurry) I am interested in learning what people have found and am more than willing to share what I know. This is the real deal! I have four records at bonneville SCTA and another four with the ECTA. Best speed is 162.24 from a standing start in a mile. - Joe "

3 hours ago, Dutchy

It took an act of God a distracted cager for me to break my beloved redslut...

:mad:

[image: IMAG5007.jpg]

That's a mess Dutchy, one question....what's a cager??

2 hours ago, jeremyr62

I found this while researching the oil mod. It would appear, in the right hands, the VF500 can be a tough motor. Your 4 hour race should be a piece of cake if this chaps experience is anything to go by.

"- All I might be like a million years behind on this but..... Proper warm up before leaning on the VF500 motor is the key! I have an 84 or 85 model that well. Check out my FB pages Joe Heffernan, Foil Hat Racing, and Bikes Built Better as well as websites. I have been land speed racing the same VF500 since June of 2011. It's turbocharged, and the turbo is fed oil tapped off the oil line to the rear head, regular oil changes of course. This motor had 43,000 miles on it before I started putting it to such abuse. This motor has close to 30 LSR passes on it as well as 20 or more FULL power dyno pulls with as much as 14 PSI of boost applied. The motor has also seen 13,500 RPM spikes as well as sustained (30 sec) at 12,500 (covers two miles in a hurry) I am interested in learning what people have found and am more than willing to share what I know. This is the real deal! I have four records at bonneville SCTA and another four with the ECTA. Best speed is 162.24 from a standing start in a mile. - Joe "

Wow, impressive. There's hope for me yet! I wonder if he's done the oil mod as well. It reads like he's feeding the turbo off the standard feed.

35 minutes ago, sportstu

That's a mess Dutchy, one question....what's a cager??

A car driver.

In this specific case a Citroen...

[image: IMAG5000.jpg]

Redslut hit the rear wheel/axle head on, forks fully compressed.

The panel was deeply dented; the driver had to pull it back to make the car mobile again...

The RH mirror the door handle

I fell to the right and hit the rear seat door.

Behind that door stood a Maxi-Cosi with a 2 month old baby...

So not only me was very very very lucky. Had redslut impacted that door full on.........

His facebook pages are still active and it seems the bike still lives.

Heavily modified...

[image: land speed records.jpg]

It is fast alright

but looks like a fat goose..  :-)

I wouldn't want to catch my nuts on that tank. Hell of a build though.

Bit of chassis assembly today. Front end on with new taper bearings. Swing arm fitted, again new bearings, the old cones were a sod to get out. 

I'm going to use a different suspension linkage system. The stock one is heavy and impossible to change the ratio easily so I am going to try to use a single dogbone and alloy plate link plates similar to the later VFR and Fireblade models. The shock is offset but I think I can get around that. Been doing a bit of measuring up and I will be using a shorter dog bone with plates made up to give a nice linear movement. It's a bit trial and error at the moment, once I get the dog bone I can measure the swing arm/link ratio and work out the hole spacing for the plates and then get a shock valved to suit.......at least that's the plan.

[image: Image110.jpg][image: Image109.jpg]v

1 hour ago, Dutchy

A car driver.

In this specific case a Citroen...

[image: IMAG5000.jpg]

Redslut hit the rear wheel/axle head on, forks fully compressed.

The panel was deeply dented; the driver had to pull it back to make the car mobile again...

The RH mirror the door handle

I fell to the right and hit the rear seat door.

Behind that door stood a Maxi-Cosi with a 2 month old baby...

So not only me was very very very lucky. Had redslut impacted that door full on.........

Car driver...got it. I thought it must be an ex con or something. Not a term I've heard before. Good to know everyone was OK, someone was looking out for you.

Ute: Aussie slang for Utility Vehicle

3 hours ago, Auspanglish

Ute: Aussie slang for Utility Vehicle

Or Pennsylvania/New Jersey term for young person...

22 hours ago, CornerCarver

Or Pennsylvania/New Jersey term for young person...

Shame about red slut, it can be rebuilt though, glad you are OK

sportstu, 1/5/2017 at 9:46 AM

Something like that mate. We mainly race in the national endurance series over here on modern kit.I haven't ridden street for years now, too much traffic and too cold in the Uk! I just fancied something different so we're doing this classic endurance race for a bit of fun. I was going to buy the bike, get it running and race it almost stock but when it turned up the sump was full of petrol and the head gasket had failed so it turned into a full on rebuild and then snowballed from there. If it survives then it may come out again sometime but there's no plans at the moment......

I did want to mention one quirky thing about these bikes/engines to you.  I have found with both my 84 (now defunct) and my 86 engine that without the fairing installed the bike will overheat when pushed just a little bit especially at highway speeds.  Whenever I've done extensive work and ridden the bike without the fairing installed for testing it always runs much hotter.  I thought you should know that in case you do testing without the fairing installed.  I know it sounds kind of crazy but I can certainly confirm it has been indeed true with the two engines my bikes has had.  It could be that the standard stock, uncovered dash scoops the air away from the fairing at higher speeds.  I really don't know.  

Something else to check is that your spark modules are for the right engine. I only discovered this recently but US 86 engines have less ignition advance than the 84/85 so if you mix and match spark modules (CDI/igniter boxes/whatever) you can end up with 5 degrees extra or less advance than the engine design calls for. How significant this is and whether you can actually tell or not I do not know. As far as I can tell UK bikes are not affected and my two UK 86 engines both have 15 degrees of advance at idle. The US 86 engine has 10 degrees of idle advance.

if you mix them up the advance will be affected at all RPM levels, not just idle, btw.

You can tell by looking at the starter clutch markings and measuring the angle or using a strobe on the starter clutch timing marks. This assumes you can correctly identify the 84/85 spark boxes and the 86s.

I was given this information by the guy that makes replacement spark modules and sells them on Ebay (dualcam). 

Cheers for all the info. My plan is to have a larger radiator made and maybe fit an auxiliary one as well. I have to lower the fairing in order to have enough clearance  for the clip-ons so I will end up modifying it anyway. The timing is interesting. I usually use ignitech ignition boxes. They will make them with any fitment if you send them the old ones but they are programmable so you can create any map on the dyno. If there is already something like that available I'll buy that instead.

10 minutes ago, sportstu

Cheers for all the info. My plan is to have a larger radiator made and maybe fit an auxiliary one as well. I have to lower the fairing in order to have enough clearance  for the clip-ons so I will end up modifying it anyway. The timing is interesting. I usually use ignitech ignition boxes. They will make them with any fitment if you send them the old ones but they are programmable so you can create any map on the dyno. If there is already something like that available I'll buy that instead.

 Have a look at http://v4spark.com/

They can be configured to change some parameters using a config tool he provides.

I emailed him and he is helpful. I am buying a set for my VF500. I have UK 86 engines so it took some figuring out that I actually have to buy the set preconfigured for US 84/85. Although even If I bought the wrong config it can all be changed in software.

There's not much that's straightforward on this engine!

Took the clutch off the shaft today in order to fit the oil pump chain and torque the input shaft bearing retaining plate and fell on to two problems.

Problem one. The VF has a large 27tooth oil pump drive sprocket behind the clutch but the NC30 has a 22tooth one. I would assume they would interchange but unfortunately they don't.

[image: Image113.jpg]

The VF one is the larger one and works by having the drive teeth in the clutch basket

[image: Image112.jpg]Like this......

NC30 one is like this........

[image: Image111.jpg]

Luckily the slots are wide enough so I was able to get the sprocket modified like this..........

[image: Image114.jpg]

So, that problem was sorted. I could have gone back to the original clutch but this one is stronger, lighter and also means I can use the lighter primary gear. Happy days..

The next issue was the load on the input bearing. Because the shaft assembly is non standard and I had to have it altered to fit there was a slight load on the bearing when the retaining plate was fully tightened. I could still turn it by hand but I wasn't happy so decided to shim it. However, it's almost impossible to buy 2 shimming washers on their own so I hacked up a set of feeler gauges and made a shim. Now it spins beautifully, probably saved myself a whole horsepower there!

[image: Image116.jpg]

[image: Image117.jpg]

[image: Image118.jpg]

It even tells you the thickness...........

Finally installed the later oil pump, pick up pipe and the deep sump

[image: Image119.jpg]

[image: Image120.jpg]

[image: Image121.jpg]

Don't worry that I forgot the oil pump o rings, the ones in the pic are the old ones!!

[image: Image122.jpg]

[image: Image116.jpg]

thanks for keeping us posted, nice progress!  I don't know if you'll be interested at this advanced stage but the 86 models have slightly bigger openings for the water pipes coming out of the heads.  The end that fits into the head is the same but the end that connects to the hose is bigger.  Also, there are bigger openings for the 86 thermo housing.  The down pipe from the radiator is also more streamlined.  I don't know if any of this made much of a difference but it does seem like they at least made an attempt to improve the coolant flow over the 84/85 setup.  

I didn't know that. The return pipe on mine is crap, looks like it's been beaten with a mallet but that's factory! The radiator will be different so I'll be fitting different hoses and pipes anyway. There's no silicone sets available as far as I know, unless anyone know where I can get some?

7 minutes ago, sportstu

I didn't know that. The return pipe on mine is crap, looks like it's been beaten with a mallet but that's factory! The radiator will be different so I'll be fitting different hoses and pipes anyway. There's no silicone sets available as far as I know, unless anyone know where I can get some?

I actually used silicone hoses from the 600 Hornet, just had to cut a little bit but I eliminated the steel down-pipe with a hose similar to what the Hornet has.  Looks a little strange in red but it works just fine.  They were only about 20 or 25 bucks on ebay and come in black too.  Of course, with a larger radiator, you'd probably have to cut em up a bit.  

[image: IMG_20150622_131507.jpg]

sportstu, 1/10/2017 at 10:16 AM

I didn't know that. The return pipe on mine is crap, looks like it's been beaten with a mallet but that's factory! The radiator will be different so I'll be fitting different hoses and pipes anyway. There's no silicone sets available as far as I know, unless anyone know where I can get some?

Hey Sports, no word in almost 2 weeks!  You spoiled us with your impressive and steady progress.  Hope everything is going well friend.  

7 hours ago, jrodrims27

Hey Sports, no word in almost 2 weeks!  You spoiled us with your impressive and steady progress.  Hope everything is going well friend.  

Yes all good, tied up on other things and a short pre planned spell in the hospital but I'm back at the workshop today. I have done a few things like check the cam timing about 10 times because it doesn't look right even when it is spot on, and set the gaps etc but today the plan is to make the pipes for the oiling mod and get the motor back in the frame asap so that I can move on with getting the chain alignment sorted and the bike into a rolling state.

As a subscriber to the CMM magazine, I read that the 4 hour endurance will be quite a show......

7 hours ago, sportstu

Yes all good, tied up on other things and a short pre planned spell in the hospital but I'm back at the workshop today. I have done a few things like check the cam timing about 10 times because it doesn't look right even when it is spot on, and set the gaps etc but today the plan is to make the pipes for the oiling mod and get the motor back in the frame asap so that I can move on with getting the chain alignment sorted and the bike into a rolling state.

Yes, nice to see you back.  You're right about the cam timing marks, they've never looked dead on for me like the pictures show.  However, one tooth adjustments either way makes a big enough difference that you know it can't be right but you get it as close as you can with the lobes pointing (viewing from the left side of the engine) the way the pictures show and the upper marks on the outside of the cam sprockets lined up (as close as you can) to the edge of the case.  It won't be perfect but get them as close as you can and you should be fine.  I've never been wrong...yet. 

5 hours ago, Dutchy

As a subscriber to the CMM magazine, I read that the 4 hour endurance will be quite a show......

It's a big event this year Dutchy, worth the trip for the weekend?

Engine and frame reunited at last!

[image: Image125.jpg][image: Image126.jpg][image: Image124.jpg]

1 hour ago, sportstu

It's a big event this year Dutchy, worth the trip for the weekend?

Considering it; being on "garden leave" gives me the possibility...

3 hours ago, Dutchy

Considering it; being on "garden leave" gives me the possibility...

You'd probably take the ferry, but if you went through London, you could always stay over at my place!

(But you'll have to ride the VTR!)  :blush:

Ciao,

Today I've been doing a bit of work fitting the rear wheel and getting the chain line right. I've done a fair bit of research on this because it seems a reasonably common conversion to fit CBR600F2 wheels. Trouble is, there are conflicting measurements for getting the chain right  and aligning the wheel etc, and, I'm using the NC30 gearbox which has a slightly longer output shaft.

So, I've spent a few hours on the job and I think I've sorted it in the best way but, my method doesn't seem to tally with any of the measurements that are already available, which is to be expected with the chain line, but the wheel alignment should work. Anyway, I've got to get a couple of spacers made up, replace the carrier bearing and get a bit of machining done and then I'll bolt it all up and let you know if it works!

I've booked the bike in to have it's custom exhausts made in the third week of February and I have to have it built up and rolling by then so now I have deadline to spur me on.

I had the same issue when I converted my VF500 to 17 inch wheels. I eventually admitted defeat and bought one of these

https://www.profi-products.de/en/profi-cat-laser/?p=1

Not cheap but it works for aligning the chain at least.

Finally finished a few jobs. It took a couple of attempts to get the rear wheel and chain alignment spot on but this is how it looks now.[image: Image131.thumb.jpg.a0f67f44835ebd8746c84170a2f39a2f.jpg]

The pic below shows the NC30 output shaft and it's fairly obvious that it's about 3mm longer

[image: Image132.thumb.jpg.5c652c5b89f7c81315457b5459a915bb.jpg]

So what I ended up doing is this.

The left spacer is machined down to 7mm. The seal pocket on the carrier is machined down to 20mm from the bearing seat. For my bike I had to machine the sprocket face of the carrier down by 7mm to get a chain line. I've fitted a new bearing, no circlip (how can the bearing move??) and then fit a seal 30x47x6, which is a Vespa part apparently and it all looks neat and tidy. The only other thing I did was turn the inner spacer down to 5.2mm which allowed the carrier to sit tight to the wheel. So far so good, now for the other side. I'm just waiting for a caliper carrier to arrive so that I can do some measuring up.

[image: Image127.thumb.jpg.d81d8361600d366c766296f76b00a316.jpg]

So the other bit of progress is that I have built up the calipers. It doesn't take long but I'd been sent a seal set with the wrong seals in so I've been waiting for the right ones to get here. I painted the halves while I was waiting and I'm pretty happy that  could run a flat file over the lettering to make it stand out. Trouble is that is the side of the caliper that faces in so it won't get seen!

[image: Image133.thumb.jpg.d85eb36c08bb03dc36109293ca21d804.jpg]

[image: Image134.thumb.jpg.ffe0068e5ac123073cd0aa678822907f.jpg]

I took a big step today and arranged to have a bespoke race shock absorber built by Nitron. I did make a bracket to enable fitting a zx6r shock but in the end I thought it would be worth getting a custom one made. The cost is very reasonable and it will be ride height adjustable and built for the right link ratio. If anyone wants details PM me and I'll put you in touch.

A bit more work to tidy up some loose ends. There wasn't enough clearance inside the clutch casing for the 10 plate clutch on full lift so I took the big step and cut the cover up. I now have an accurate measurement so it's gone off to be welded with a spacer in it. There is absolutely nothing straightforward about this bike!!

I've also cut down a vfr400 sprocket cover with the cable clutch mechanism so that it fits. I'd like to use it but at the moment it gets in the way of the generator wiring so I'll have to try to work something out.

[image: Image136.thumb.jpg.ff15dfb07fd9a23f317da1b5b1cb0f90.jpg]

[image: Image137.thumb.jpg.454821067ec25ac63c2b6fb2517d22c3.jpg]

[image: Image139.thumb.jpg.837018efcfea811b09ebb0946fffa5cf.jpg]

Very impressive progress, can't wait to see the final product.  Changing up the transmission has seemed to be the most complicated aspect of your endeavor so far.  I hope everything continues to come together well and that those God-forsaken valves hold up for you.  

Not the neatest weld in the world but the alloy is very thin. It does the job though. I'll paint it black before I fit it.

[image: Image140.thumb.jpg.e55199099d2407e11ceda2f3c4e9f345.jpg]

[image: Image142.thumb.jpg.4f0e65dc1c686ab4be40e36c54fba6a8.jpg]

I hope to have some footpegs fitted later this week when I've knocked up some adjustable brackets for them. Should get the back wheel on this week too and then I'll have a bike that I can take off the ramp and push around, excitement indeed!

Endurance - Performance over looks...

49 minutes ago, TheDutchy

Endurance - Performance over looks...

True enough, It does look a lot better now that it's painted and I think it looks good in a functional way!

Once it's running, with all the effort put in, maybe a chat to Sebspeed for an extended clear cover would finish it of?
But cudo's to you on the job so far....proves almost anything can be done if you put your mind to it!

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

11 hours ago, Forbes

Once it's running, with all the effort put in, maybe a chat to Sebspeed for an extended clear cover would finish it of?
But cudo's to you on the job so far....proves almost anything can be done if you put your mind to it!

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk
 

Cheers for that. I've seen pictures of the clear covers. My only thought is that I don't think I'd be allowed to race it with anything other than a ally cover. There's nothing that I can see in the regs but I'd be nervous presenting it to scrutineering with a perspex cover.

On Endurance racers sometimes an extra skid plate is welded onto the clutch cover..

[image: IMG_2682.thumb.JPG.f72b86fb3ab99e8368a70e1d78085b04.JPG]

Dutchy you dog, post up any and all pics of that bike, in a new thread if you want. That thing looks awesome.

No way they'd allow a clear clutch cover, already requiring safety wire on critical fasteners.

TheDutchy On Endurance racers sometimes an extra skid plate is welded onto the clutch cover..
 
[image: IMG_2682.thumb.JPG.f72b86fb3ab99e8368a70e1d78085b04.JPG]

Not sure I'll need the knee slider, it doesn't look too bad fitted

[image: Image148.thumb.jpg.071d13e827cd2398391072e978962e86.jpg]

I've abandoned the underslung caliper idea for now, I'm up against the wall in terms of time. I have to have the bike complete at the end of the month because it's booked in to have the exhausts made. So, I got hold of a VTR caliper bracket because they have been used a few times but it's not a straightforward job at all. Anyway, sleeves and spacers made and it all fits nicely now but I will have to weld a lug on top of the existing one on the swing arm because it only just engages with the bracket.[image: Image143.thumb.jpg.f7c60ca22e3e9c74208e3b37d4a02d03.jpg]

I've been getting on with a few other bits too. Cleaned some discs up and fitted them with by blingy titanium bolts......[image: Image147.thumb.jpg.58a41510b11b101b41e7288fa7f79d29.jpg]

I'm thinking of upgrading the airbox intake from the snorkel to ram air. I can get the intake under the radiator and into the airbox and make a foam filter for the front of the airbox. I haven't cut anything yet but it looks like it'll work.

[image: Image145.thumb.jpg.f8c38e4888fe9cee197feb2ccf8f1c0e.jpg][image: Image149.thumb.jpg.3a33f090eeb177dca3de5dba3db96e73.jpg]

And I have fitted up the cable clutch conversion which works a treat![image: Image146.thumb.jpg.db902206bd2d40b07622feff86464163.jpg]

Who's doing the exhaust, may I ask?

Ciao,

http://www.pgwengineeringtorbay.co.uk/

He's a top man, excellent for any custom build or race bike.

Hallo,

Great job:)))

14 hours ago, Dario1979

Hallo,

Great job:)))

Thanks, nearly finished.

TheDutchy, 1.12.2016 at 9:15 PM

We left most of the casings just with a blasted finish.. In my opinion a plus on the Cooling factor.. And cooling is what you gonna need on a VF500..

Fabbed a VF750F bottom rad to fit within the headlight cluster for additional cooling,,

sportstu, 1.12.2016 at 10:12 PM

Nice looking bike, I do like the natural casings. Did you lacquer them? As yours is race ready why not enter too???

Great solution to the cooling, I was intending to fit a larger curved radiator and cut the fairing a little bit.

Hi, tell me what tires you use in your race bike?

sportstu, 1.12.2016 at 10:12 PM

Nice looking bike, I do like the natural casings. Did you lacquer them? As yours is race ready why not enter too???

Great solution to the cooling, I was intending to fit a larger curved radiator and cut the fairing a little bit.

1 hour ago, Dario1979

Hi, tell me what tires you use in your race bike?

Pirelli Sport Deamons... There not race tires, far from that...

7 hours ago, TheDutchy

Pirelli Sport Deamons... There not race tires, far from that...

Maybe you should try some of these:

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am22

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am23

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am18---super-venom

1 hour ago, keny

Maybe you should try some of these:

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am22

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am23

http://www.avonmotorsport.com/historic/motorcycle/am18---super-venom

Than I have to mix up the AM22 and AM23 to get the right selection of tires for the bike... 16" front wheel just minimizes the selection...

4 hours ago, TheDutchy

Than I have to mix up the AM22 and AM23 to get the right selection of tires for the bike... 16" front wheel just minimizes the selection...

Yes, and I think the AM22 was a front only as the tread was used for road only, and the AM23 a rear only.

And the site says:"The 3 sizes of front tyre designed to compliment the AM23 rear"

120/70VB16 AM22 front and 130/650VB18 AM23 rear and you will have a other lever of grip :smile:

A endurance team in UK did use this combo on a RC24 (130/70VB18 rear, as it got a 3,50 rim) whit great result 

4 hours ago, keny

Yes, and I think the AM22 was a front only as the tread was used for road only, and the AM23 a rear only.

And the site says:"The 3 sizes of front tyre designed to compliment the AM23 rear"

120/70VB16 AM22 front and 130/650VB18 AM23 rear and you will have a other lever of grip :smile:

A endurance team in UK did use this combo on a RC24 (130/70VB18 rear, as it got a 3,50 rim) whit great result 

I ran the AM22 (120/70VB16) and the AM23 (130/70VB18) both in the SC (Sprint Compound) on my VF500F race bike.  They are f-ing amazing.  They are also f-ing expensive now.

Do uou have to run the 16/18 wheels in your series? We can change to 17 and run 160/120 so get a great choice of fantastic race rubber. Every time I go in the store and notice the old rear wheel I'm amazed by how narrow it is compared to modern stuff. You got to respect the guys who race on those skinny things.

It used to be anything but 17 inch... But now they've changed it..

Thanks:)

1 hour ago, sportstu

Do uou have to run the 16/18 wheels in your series? We can change to 17 and run 160/120 so get a great choice of fantastic race rubber. Every time I go in the store and notice the old rear wheel I'm amazed by how narrow it is compared to modern stuff. You got to respect the guys who race on those skinny things.

120 is the rear tire on my VF500.

On my SP2 120 is the front..... :-)

11 hours ago, Dutchy

120 is the rear tire on my VF500.

On my SP2 120 is the front..... :-)

Scary!!

8 hours ago, sportstu

Scary!!

They didn't need much tire to work great.  Don't get me wrong, I'll be building a 500 with CBR wheels at some point, but when you didn't know any better...

[image: gallery_6115_2003_58118.jpg]

Not too bad for street legal tires on a Mickey mouse track with no banking..

Some of the video I've seen of the old one make VF500 series is very impressive too, skinny tyres and big lean and slides. Your bike barks nicely too TheDuchy, I hope mine sounds like that. What exhaust configuration are you running?

Just the stock collector and some open baffles... If not mistaken, they are some old cannisters from a XS500.. Chopped and gutted...

As a joke, we bought some aluminum HRC decals and put it on the cannisters.. At at least three racing events. at the paddock people were asking how we obtained these HRC silencers..  :tongue:

Don't get me wrong, but with that original collector box, it don't matter what kind of baffle you put on it.. It's just right... If you convert it into a 4 into 1, or either a 4 into 2 it changes the whole powerband of the engine.. To me, it narrows it... The original box was well designed by Honda in my opinion..

Just another vid.. During the test phase at our home playground... Sounds almost more like a two stroke to me..

Mine is going in for exhausts to be fabricated on the 27th. I'm going for 4-2 with the front and rear banks not linked. The plan is to use the HRC AMA VF750 superbike systems as a guide so we will end up with the tail pipes being asymmetrical in order to get the tube lengths right. I don't know a great deal about exhaust theory but from what I understand it will be the best configuration for power. I'm not too worried about having a big spread through the rev range because we have the close ratio box. Hopefully the system will save a few grams too.

I went with 2, 2-1 setup as well. Fronts together and rears together. I think this is the way to go as Honda has done it several times with their race V4's. I lost a little down low but the 1000cc makes up for it. Mid is still good with up high being really good. In a race situation, you will likely be living in the upper ranges so you should be good to go. Look forward to seeing it done, you've made quite a project of it. 

Vid I shot a while ago after reinstalling the charging and starting systems.

Front and rear cylinder banks are independent.

Quick uptate as I've been neglecting to post the progress for a while. I'm getting on with loads of the niggly jobs that crop up at this stage. I'm waiting for the shock absorber to arrive so I've taken the swing arm out again to weld some bosses on for my paddock stand bobbins. I've been making brackets for the coils because I don't want half meter HT leads so I'm mounting the new coils close to each cylinder bank. Mounting the new clocks nicely was a ball ache, I'll do a picture of that tomorrow, and I've finally connected the oil pipes to the heads. I struggled to get clearance that I was happy with using compression fittings so I popped down to HEL and had some swaged up. You can't get a parallel splitter so I had to use a Y piece which is not ideal but I think it looks alright. I'm painting up the rear caliper tomorrow and hopfully I'll have it rolling and off the ramp by

the end of the day!!

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I pressed the bush out of the suspension rocker today. It's not a great design to have a bush there clamped up to the cleat so I'm changing it to a needle roller. Luckily it's a 22mm bore so I can fit a 15/22 needle gage in there with a 10/15 inner. Easy modification and I think it will be very worth while.

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Other developments........

The crash bobbins/paddock stand bosses are now welded to the swing arm and I've built it back up to get the bike rolling for it's trip out next week.

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Had a package from China with my shiny new VF750 radiator..........[image: Image156.thumb.jpg.f9bf7860534c347a2b41bb8696471501.jpg]

Drilled out the idle adjuster so I coulf fit a longer one that I had lying around. Makes it easier to adjust from the saddle.

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Fitted NC30 clocks.....

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Things are getting exciting.  Can't wait for a shot of the entire bike.  Nice idea on the extended idle screw, definitely beats burning your hand on the hot valve cover or reaching in there with a glove.   

Thank you Sport!

I am reminded of triggers broom yet again. (You will have to be from the UK to get this one).

45 minutes ago, jeremyr62

I am reminded of triggers broom yet again. (You will have to be from the UK to get this one).

Cheers Dave

4 hours ago, jeremyr62

I am reminded of triggers broom yet again. (You will have to be from the UK to get this one).

Had to "google" that one!  Well, the basic frame and the engine are pretty legit vf500f but I hear you on the rest of it. Different "handles and heads" but the core is still a vf500f in spirit. Besides, all the NEWer handles and heads are better than the originals right?

The needle bearings turned up for the suspension link. I'm really pleased with this mod, it's dead simple to do and it'll be a huge improvement over the standard flexi bush system.

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Sorry the image is blurred, it was taken on my phone which is a 6310 nokia! One side pushed in with the vice.....

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Then both sides and the centre fitted. Easy.

This is my new Ignitech ignition unit. I can't recommend these guys enough. I've had these boxes on a few bikes and they are faultless, tough and best of all you can map your ignition if you want to. You can also set the rev limit, add shift lights and ven a quick shifter. All that for 155 euros delivered. They come loaded with a standard map and an adaptor to lus straight in to your loom.
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I've also got my modified generator cover back from the shop. I did try cutting the centre out of a GSXR one and welding into the VF but the alloy was awful so it made sense to start with the one that is available to convert the NC30 race bikes and then modify it to fit the VF.

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That's the boss that we welded on to cover the wiring joint, then milled it back. I didn't take the pattern so I got it a bit wrong, it will still work OK but it's a little scrappy which is annoying. The next pic shows why.

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You can see that I'm a few degrees out!!

I do have a nice boss to mount the stop for the cable clutch though........

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Finally, I faked up a bracket for some rearsets that I had. I've drilled 3 holes which gives them 3 positions of adjustment. It will work and it's very solid so the pattern has gone off to be laser cut neatly.

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A bit of exhaust pipe teaser, I went to drop something off to the guy making the pipes so I took a couple of pics. Only the headers on the front bank done so far but I reckon they look great. I went for 26inch headers, 14 link pipe and some stubby cans. I hope that's about right but someone on here with more knowledge may well say different...................

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Do you plan on winning the race? You must have sunk a fair bit of cash into this project. I hope you are rewarded.

Any idea when you think it will run? 

This endurance is one of THE events i reckon (and what I read in CMM..).

Eternal Glory looms!!

Beautiful so far!!

6 hours ago, jeremyr62

Do you plan on winning the race? You must have sunk a fair bit of cash into this project. I hope you are rewarded.

Any idea when you think it will run? 

You're seeing his reward now. The journey is the reward...for us as well as him.

Hey thanks for all the nice comments, genuinely pleased that people are enjoying this.The plan is to make a good showing of it, a win in class would be awesome but we are the smallest machine in the race we'll be giving away 20bhp at least. Having said that, we don't normally enter anything to make up the numbers, our history in the national endurance series is pretty good and my team mate is a very very quick rider who normally competes in BSB. I hope that the bike will be back with me at the end of this week, I have to make a bracket for the new shock because Nitron didn't quite understand the brief and then it's just the hundreds of little jobs to get it running. The panels will be painted by the end of this week too. The aim is to have it on track early April so that if it breaks or if the gearbox doesn't work we still have time to sort it before the race in May.

" is a very very quick rider who normally competes in BSB "

Shakey, Leon, Josh? I live in hope..

Haha, not in the superbike class mate, he's in supersport!!

Anyone who rides competitively has my admiration. BSB supersport s a fantastic series too.

Just remind him not to bounce the valves.

This is truly an epic thread for remaining vf500f fans worldwide! Are you planning any dyno pulls? Thank You!

5 hours ago, jrodrims27

This is truly an epic thread for remaining vf500f fans worldwide! Are you planning any dyno pulls? Thank You!

Dyno set up is planned as soon as the old girl is running so that we can get the fuelling right, whatever the result I will post it up here. My heart wants 70 but my head says nearer 60, what do you reckon??

Bog stock RWHP for an 84/85 VF500 was about 53BHP at 11000RPM. Getting to 70 BHP is big jump. Is it mainly the exhaust that is going to give you the bump? Any other significant tuning work? 

Well you might be lucky, my old 1986 VF500F2 with 54,000 miles on it made 59rwhp on PDQ's dyno back in 2003 :)

It had a Predator Exhaust + K&N air filter, running on CBR600 wheels & a Hagon shock. I replaced it with a CBR600F4, which would easily out handle it, but just didn't have the sole nor the flexible V4 engine. I don't know why, but you never seem to be in the wrong gear on a V4 :)

PS it produced more power with the snorkel in the airbox, than out, but the noise with it out was amazing.

3 hours ago, jeremyr62

Bog stock RWHP for an 84/85 VF500 was about 53BHP at 11000RPM. Getting to 70 BHP is big jump. Is it mainly the exhaust that is going to give you the bump? Any other significant tuning work? 

No other major work. The ports have been cleaned up and the carbs rebuilt but I've steered clear of trying to get too musc power because I need it first to be reliable. It will have a jet kit and a bespoke ignition map, new coils and a different air filter and the flame mesh removed but basically it's pretty stock.

The January 2015 and December 2016 issue of CCM states 68.7bhp, but that might just be regurgitating Honda marketing.

US testes did quarter mile in 12,79seconds with a terminal speed of 103mph

27 minutes ago, Dutchy

The January 2015 and December 2016 issue of CCM states 68.7bhp, but that might just be regurgitating Honda marketing.

US testes did quarter mile in 12,79seconds with a terminal speed of 103mph

Those numbers are at the crank, not the rear wheel.  When the bike first came out, it made the most power at the crank "per liter" than any other bike.

so deduct ~10-12% I'd hazard a guess.   But Stu's dyno will tell all!!

I'm usung 520 chain, 600g flywheel and narrower primary drive gear so hopefully the losses will be reduced a bit.

Before opening this topic, I prepare myself...Just want you to know that I've laid out a stack of paper towels over the key board to keep it from shorting out from all the drool.

Wuv it.

I have never seen one dyno'd at more than 53 but that was from stock magazine tests about a million years ago.  I can't say I've seen anyone dyno one of these in good condition in recent decades.  I've only seen a couple with very low numbers on engines in poor condition.  I will mention, IF I remember correctly that a fella named Jamie Daugherty (an ultra expert from another site) who used to race these, mentioned something about the stock exhaust collector and that it isn't a terrible design for this bike and that sometimes attempts for more free flowing exhausts have come up short or something along those lines.  

They had a pretty extensive discussion on it.  

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/30249-VF500F-Aftermarket-Exhaust-Systems-from-Back-in-the-Day  

We hope you nailed it with your design on this one and perhaps your porting and richer jets can be calibrated efficiently enough for you to make good numbers.  It'll be very interesting to see what you end up pulling.  

39 minutes ago, jrodrims27

I have never seen one dyno'd at more than 53 but that was from stock magazine tests about a million years ago.  I can't say I've seen anyone dyno one of these in good condition in recent decades.  I've only seen a couple with very low numbers on engines in poor condition.  I will mention, IF I remember correctly that a fella named Jamie Daugherty (an ultra expert from another site) who used to race these, mentioned something about the stock exhaust collector and that it isn't a terrible design for this bike and that sometimes attempts for more free flowing exhausts have come up short or something along those lines.  

They had a pretty extensive discussion on it.  

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/30249-VF500F-Aftermarket-Exhaust-Systems-from-Back-in-the-Day  

We hope you nailed it with your design on this one and perhaps your porting and richer jets can be calibrated efficiently enough for you to make good numbers.  It'll be very interesting to see what you end up pulling.  

I have heard that said before but conventional theory says that the most efficient system for a 360 degree v4 is paired front bank and paired rear bank so that the pulses are seperated by a full revolution. As far as I know the standard collector pairs left and right but I could be wrong. Every system has to have a compromise. I hope that mine will give me peak power at around the 11000 mark and a reasonable higher mid range from the reletively long headers and if I lose some low down grunt it won't be a problem. The dyno will tell, It's going to be a nervous day for me!

Anyway, I was clearing out one of the containers and I took a pic of the poor old NC30 that sacrificed its rearsets and rear brake master for the greater good of the build. I have had this bike for years and rebuilt it into various configurations over time ranging from standard road trim to hideous Tyga/Ducati thing with 996 forks. In the end I decided that I was unlikely to ever ride it on the road again so I built it into race spec. It's got some fairly trick bits on it but I've never raced it or had it quite finished so it has sat in the container for the last few years looking sorry for itself. After this endurance race I'll get this one finished and post some more pics.The chap who did the paint on this is absolutely brilliant, all of the colours, including the gold pin stripes are painted on, no stickers at all. He is also doing the little 500 and that is looking every but as good.

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Wow, you have bikes like that collecting dust in containers?  Living the dream right there... 

Anyway, just in case you're curious and hadn't seen one opened up, this is a stock collector picture I pirated from that aforementioned site. 

[image: DSCF3985.jpg]

There's a lot of free space for expansion in there, presumably to avoid pulses heading back up the header pipes.

Dutchy, 3/8/2017 at 9:45 AM

The January 2015 and December 2016 issue of CCM states 68.7bhp, but that might just be regurgitating Honda marketing.

US testes did quarter mile in 12,79seconds with a terminal speed of 103mph

Yes, one had to have had quite a large set of avocados to get on that bike and wind it out back then...  :D

47 minutes ago, Shinigami

Yes, one had to have had quite a large set of avocados to get on that bike and wind it out back then...  :D

Actually, it takes water-melon sized to do that today given the weakness of the old valves.  Back then, raisin-size would have been more than enough wringing out the new engine.  

Well spotted Shinigami!

[image: Bullseye.png]

Balls Eye!!!   :-)

TheDutchy, 15.02.2017 at 11:55 PM

Pirelli Sport Deamons... There not race tires, far from that...

what sizes?? 100/90/16 110/90/18 ?

Well, it's been a while but there is progress!!! Exhausts havebeen made by Pete at PGW engineering, they are gorgeous and it was really tricky finding a route around all the things that needed avoiding lige gear links and rearsets. Anyway, I'm well happy and it was a bargain too.
We've also extended the top shock bracket to allow the new Nitron R3 to clear the swing arm, made brackets for the new coils, made a battery box and new mountings for the compressions adjuster/reservoir and the hydraulic preload adjuster and had the bodywork back from the painter who has done a stunning job. You'll see that I have had it done in a style more similar to the 750 scheme. That's because this whole bike is a nod and a tribute to the AMA superbikes of old, and I think it'll look great.

I've taken a few pics but the bodywork is only just sitting on there and the seat is yet to be re-covered but you will get the general idea.

Next on the endless agenda is a partial strip down and final rebuild with gaskets, loctite and a torque wrench......[image: Image183.thumb.jpg.280792749205bf2e7c184540195d85e0.jpg]

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Lust

Pure

Unadulturated

LUST!!!

What a beautiful bike and exciting journey getting there.

Hope she delivers what you want from her (and then some!)

Just now, Dutchy

Lust

Pure

Unadulturated

LUST!!!

What a beautiful bike and exciting journey getting there.

Hope she delivers what you want from her (and then some!)

I'm terrified!!!

You are the ultimate ANTI-hack!  You do everything the way most of us wish we could. 

Thank you for letting us tag along!!  I'll admit that I check this thread sometimes twice a day to see if any new progress is posted.  

Will you be using an electric fuel pump or are you going to try gravity feed with the single inlet on the left side?  

When you're done.. Every dickhead whants to own it... :wink:

10 hours ago, TheDutchy

When you're done.. Every dickhead whants to own it... :wink:

Love it!!

11 hours ago, jrodrims27

You are the ultimate ANTI-hack!  You do everything the way most of us wish we could.

Thank you for letting us tag along!!  I'll admit that I check this thread sometimes twice a day to see if any new progress is posted.

Will you be using an electric fuel pump or are you going to try gravity feed with the single inlet on the left side?

I'm using good old gravity mate. I've removed the fuel pump on a cbr600f2 for racing and it fuelled fine so I think this should be ok. I will take the standard tap off and fit a inline one along with a large filter. You'd have to be using a fair bit of fuel to overcome the flow.

It's been a while but I have been getting on with the bike slowly. I've solved a few of the niggly issues that were keeping me up at night but there are still many more to be done. Hoping to have it running on Friday!!!![image: tmp_4034-IMG_20170403_1556241243157490.thumb.jpg.3abf6042135145afae8fb34cdfc8429b.jpg]

I had to get the sprockets made because you can't get 520 pitch in alloy for these. Chain line looks good

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Got the generator fitted along with the flywheel. Saved nearly 2k of rotating mass.[image: tmp_4034-IMG_20170403_1050571072013264.thumb.jpg.4d84470953ed6d0d6f0129a408b355a6.jpg]

I've got a few more pics but VFRdiscussion says I can only upload 1.77mb. Anyone know how to sort this??

Cheers

Hope you get it sorted, looking forward to more pics, awesome build sportstu! 

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This is the cable clutch conversion. It actually works perfectly! Really pleased with it, nice light action and weighs much less that the hydraulic set up and keeps the left bar nice and clean.

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Managed to fit the rear master cylinder with clearance to the frame. In hindsight I would have chosen different rearsets but at least it's done now!
Tomorrow I'm doing the cooling system and fitting the carbs. Nearly there..........

She's looking good! Couple of bits still to arrive but there will be some finished pictures before the end of the weekend

Oooooohhh......  The Suspense......... :-)

Hell yes!  I tore the tendon off the tip of my finger and had surgery.  This is all I have right now, can't work on shit.

7 hours ago, Captain 80s

Hell yes!  I tore the tendon off the tip of my finger and had surgery.  This is all I have right now, can't work on shit.

Been there, done that....  with a splint on my middle finger....   :goofy:

Seems like forever since last post, withdrawal symptoms of note....

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

It's been quite a few days now, anxious to see how well she fires up for you.  Always a nail biting moment.  

She starts and runs! Needs a full set up but the early signs are very positive. All of the bodywork is now quick release and I have to say I'm really happy with the overall look of it

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Lovely.

A work of art my friend.  Congratulations, hopefully you'll be able to video the dyno?  that would be awesome to see after following along all this time.  What radiator is that from?  You shouldn't have any cooling problems with that upgrade.  Awesome!  

:))) TOP

49 minutes ago, jrodrims27

A work of art my friend.  Congratulations, hopefully you'll be able to video the dyno?  that would be awesome to see after following along all this time.  What radiator is that from?  You shouldn't have any cooling problems with that upgrade.  Awesome!  

Thanks for that jrod. The radiator is a vfr750 unit from a 1997 model. It actually fits very nice, just got to make some simple brackets and cut the fairing. The hose unions are 25mm so standard hoses may have to stretch a bit.

Pretty damn cool.

Is that front fender on backwards?

She is absolutely beautiful
What a great read for my down time at work.
Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love it. A beautiful example of the love for a motorcycle,  that drives one to turn something mass produced into something personal. So very cool. You are already the winner.

Captain 80s Pretty damn cool.
 
Is that front fender on backwards?

Haha, the fender is on the right way but it's not a vf  fender. I think it's from a cbr400 or something similar. I did try it the other way around but it could the Tyre. I think it looks racy.

Just got to read through this thread from start to now. All I can say is that is the coolest! (And how do I get a copy of that exhaust without going to Devon?)

14 hours ago, VF1000RS

Just got to read through this thread from start to now. All I can say is that is the coolest! (And how do I get a copy of that exhaust without going to Devon?)

Many thanks for the nice comments. Pete would be happy to have a chat about exhausts, his work is top drawer and very good value in my opinion.

sportstu, ‎15‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 5:23 PM

[image: IMG_20170415_150613_zpsv41qoene.jpg]

Sorry to ask a Numpty question but I see it has a big hole where the headlight should go. as it's an endurance racer should it have to have a light in there or will it be blanked off.

or is it still a WIP?

6 hours ago, Woodie

Sorry to ask a Numpty question but I see it has a big hole where the headlight should go. as it's an endurance racer should it have to have a light in there or will it be blanked off.

or is it still a WIP?

Not a numpty question at all mate. It's not a 24 hour race so there is no need for lights. We will have a number board there for the event, I just haven't made it yet.

Your thoughts on the seat cover, please.  Quality?  Fitment?  Installation?

They are sending me some examples for color as I am considering getting one for my VF1000F.

23 hours ago, Captain 80s

Your thoughts on the seat cover, please.  Quality?  Fitment?  Installation?

They are sending me some examples for color as I am considering getting one for my VF1000F.

It's very good quality. I fitted it myself and I am not an upholsterer at all. The fit is excellent. I should have used a bit more glue but overall I'm really happy.

4 hours ago, sportstu

It's very good quality. I fitted it myself and I am not an upholsterer at all. The fit is excellent. I should have used a bit more glue but overall I'm really happy.

Thank you sir.  And again, wonderful job.

sportstu, 4/15/2017 at 0:31 PM

[image: IMG_20170415_151433_zpsr5sotvpx.jpg]

This is a wonderful build, beautiful execution!  

sportstu, 3/21/2017 at 4:47 AM

... I will take the standard tap off and fit a inline one along with a large filter...

A bit unrelated, but I'm in the early stages of a Hawk GT647 build and have a spare VF500F tank.  I was looking for a way to clear the rear cylinder with the VF fuel petcock.  I think this image just answered all my questions!  No reserve, so that could be a challenge for the street ("Hello Honey, you're not going to believe what happened - again.  Please grab the gas can and meet me...")

Best of luck, watching closely!

That's what the odometer is for, a stand-in fuel gauge...You just gotta pay attention to your mileage the first few times to get your averages. 

Ok. Quick update on the critical situation we are in. The race is less than a week away and the bike is still in the dyno room struggling to get off the needles. The problem is that the carbs need a dynojet kit to overcome the restriction imposed by this being a California machine and we can't get the kit until after the race. As a last resort we are trying different mains and attempting to reshape the needles by hand. The needles are not adjustable for height so it's shims and files that we are working with. All very time consuming but we are not giving up yet!!! The good news is that the bike seems great in every other way.

55 minutes ago, sportstu

Ok. Quick update on the critical situation we are in. The race is less than a week away and the bike is still in the dyno room struggling to get off the needles. The problem is that the carbs need a dynojet kit to overcome the restriction imposed by this being a California machine and we can't get the kit until after the race. As a last resort we are trying different mains and attempting to reshape the needles by hand. The needles are not adjustable for height so it's shims and files that we are working with. All very time consuming but we are not giving up yet!!! The good news is that the bike seems great in every other way.

wow, not sure what getting off the needles or overcoming the restriction means but best of luck with that.  Strange how a California bike ended up in your neck of the woods with so many other possibilities out there in the whole wide world.  I assume you've checked that your vacuum diaphragms are all in good order.  

sportstu [image: IMG_20170415_150605_zpsbqtu8ie0.jpg]

Fingers crossed (even here in the Netherlands) that all will be good come the race.....   :beer:

No chance of a spare set of 32mm carbs (Non California)?

7 hours ago, jeremyr62

No chance of a spare set of 32mm carbs (Non California)?

I agree, maybe you can get somebody to loan you a set of VF500 carbs, clean em up, throw in new jets (very common jet types) and you're set? 

I could send you the Original needles for a non-cali version... Also bump the slow jets from #38 to #40.. Then start to play with the mains... IIRC we are running #110 on the mains (No aorbox cover, just a flame guard mesh) and open pipes..

Hi guys. All offers are much appreciated but the time constraints are so tight that I have withdrawn. There are 12 teams on the reserve list and I felt it better to give one of them a shot than turn up untested and not make the right impression. It's really sad because we are so close but I had set yesterday as my deadline and it just didn't look likely. The organisers were gutted, this was something different from the usual gsxr/fz stuff and they have offered free entry next year which I thought was pretty nice of them. In the meantime I feel I've let the side down a bit but the bike will still be on track this month and I'll post up the dyno results when I have them and hopefully some action pictures. I'm going to try to get an entry in a pro stock race if I can pursuade them to let me in even though it doesn't quite comply but other than that it's back in the shed until next year's legends race. Sorry I haven't got better news.

Ooofffff........

Better turn around halfway than lost the entire way.

Have a wee malt to drown this disappointment.

This at least gives you plenty of time to get the bike sorted and ready to make a good showing next year.

Sorry it didn't work out for you this year.  It's been a fun ride for me anyway, thanks for that.  In any case, it'll be great to see your dyno and action pictures when you get there.  

Well, damn.  You got a metric shit-ton of custom work done in a very short time though.  At least you can really dial it in now hopefully.

From my point of view that is a very wise decission.. I have been there more than once..

On the Suzuki endurance racer we had two races where we didn't even finish the qualifying sessions.. Race one was justified to mechanical rebuild issues.. The ( automated) camchain tensioner wheel came off and was lost on the track.. Not something you would fab instantly..

Second race, we suffered on severy oil spills caused by underdesigned breather lines..

But as soon we got these items tackled, we came in 4th on the next race and a #2 spot following that one..

On the VF500F we toasted two engines before we got it right.. Larger oilsump, larger oilpump, fuel delivery and an extra radiator were the mods..But we could only adress these items during race events..

Coming back to the earlier comment I made about a "Wise Decission".. Take it easy, and do your homework right.. Take it to the track and get the experience on short stints.. 20 mins or so.. Then take it to 45 mins stints and so on..

To me.. I never seen a fresh bike build for a Classic Endurance event that has survived the whole race without issues.. That's the samething like running the olympic marathon without any preparation..

I really have to say thanks for the ride, It's been epic! I hated to hear you didn't make it to the finish line, however you have started something wonderful! I hope you keep us all posted on the progression to next year. I hate the thought of this thread ending. I so badly want to build a vintage track bike. 

Thanks again for sharing.

I agree with what the others have said about waiting until the bike is ready. You will be a little more relaxed on the track once you have it dialed in, and have any other potential issues sorted. Yeah, it might not have been an easy decision, but I do believe you made the right decision. Plus you now have time to go over the bike again, and examine any further areas for imporvement. 

A retreat in time saves nine!

Wise decision.

Next year of course you must achieve a podium place!

You have the know how. To that there is no doubt.

This must be the most supportive forum in the world. Your comments are very much appreciated and I will keep you posted on the progress. Thanks to everyone.

Your time and efforts are not wasted....you have inspired many in the process of your build, just don't stop posting and we'll all be happy. It's not the final race....

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

I`ll say it again; coolest 500 Interceptor build I`ve seen. 

Sneak it past the MOT, licence her and come ride some dikes here!

sportstu, 5/8/2017 at 1:49 PM

This must be the most supportive forum in the world. Your comments are very much appreciated and I will keep you posted on the progress. Thanks to everyone.

I may have a spare set of 49 State carbs that are not attached to the mounting plate.  Let me know if you are interested in them.  You would probably have to use your mounting plate and other parts (linkage if I recall correctly is missing as well).

PM me to discuss.

Beautiful build.

ACE